Azerbaijani doctors participated in the International Certification Program of WHO on Strengthening Effective Control and Monitoring of Drugs, COVID-19, and other vaccines in the Healthcare Systems

Nowadays preparation and administration of vaccines have become a vital task in tackling COVID-19. Several countries, including Azerbaijan, have already started vaccination of the population.  Safety and timely detection and elimination of adverse reactions to vaccines are very important during vaccination. To address this necessity, WHO organized an international pharmacovigilance training for strengthening the control on detection and registration of adverse reactions to drugs and vaccines.  Azerbaijani health professionals achieved the highest scores on the exam among participants from different countries. 

“It is very important to monitor that a vaccine or a medicine continues to stay safe and effective in real-life conditions after it is proven safe in clinical trials. Pharmacovigilance aims to achieve this,” noted Dr. Hande Harmanci, WHO Representative in Azerbaijan who presented the certificates to the doctors. She highlighted that therefore, it is important to constantly update the knowledge of healthcare professionals who are working in the field of pharmacovigilance. 

Dr Olexandr Polishchuk, expert of WHO Regional Office for Europe, and Dr Javahir Suleymanova, expert of WHO Azerbaijan also delivered remarks at the event. The certified doctors, in turn, shared their views on the training program.