Journal of Pharmacovigilance

Abstract

Pharmacovigilance in Cabo Verde: Measuring the Impact of Pharmacovigilance Educational Campaign o,n Consumer’s Knowledge

Carla Djamila Reis, Filipe Helder Mota, Veiga Cálida Etezana Rodrigues and Jailson JM

Background: A monitoring system of adverse drug reactions is vital to patient safety and patients should have an active role in it. However, encouraging consumer involvement in their healthcare requires that they are or can be sufficiently well informed to make rational decisions. Therefore, mass education campaigns can be important to promote public education about medicines. Purpose: To assess the impact of an educational campaign to promote knowledge of consumer regarding use of medicines. Methods: A descriptive study was performed for consumer’s knowledge regarding rational use of medicine after a TV/radio campaign. A questionnaire was applied during 1 week (from 16 to 23 November 2015) in all urban areas of the capital of Cabo Verde to a population of 73,343. The data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and T-test. Results: The result reveals a general improvement on knowledge of consumer (p<0.0001) after the TV/radio educational program. For the two most sensitive issue of the first study, the results indicate an improvement of 0.7 percentage points for medicine-risk perception and an increase of 11.6 percentage points for the perception of quality of generics. Conclusion: Educational campaigns for consumer on the appropriate use of medicines are of crucial importance and well-tailored campaigns can improve the general knowledge, especially by addressing the campaign through the healthcare professional. It is recommended to continue the transmission and amplification of the TV/radio program.