The 6^th National Pharmacovigilance Week (NPW) was inaugurated at the Padmashri Nitya Anand Auditorium Hall, ALRC Building, Indian Pharmacopoeia Commission (IPC), Ghaziabad, today.  IPC serves as the National Coordination Centre for the Pharmacovigilance Programme of India (NCC-PvPI). Being observed from 17–23 September 2026 across the country, the 6th NPW is themed “Promoting Rational Use of Medicines through Pharmacovigilance – A Step Towards Safer Healthcare”. The week-long campaign aims to sensitise healthcare professionals, researchers and the public about the importance of adverse drug reaction (ADR) reporting and encourage active participation in pharmacovigilance.

The inaugural ceremony was attended by Dr. Rajiv Bahl, Director General, ICMR (virtually); Dr. V. Kalaiselvan, Secretary-cum-Scientific Director, IPC; Dr. Jai Prakash, Officer-in-Charge, PvPI; Prof. Sangeeta Sharma, IHBAS; Shri Aditya Kumar Mamgain, Deputy Secretary, MoHFW; and along with other dignitaries and stakeholders.

Dr. Rajiv Bahl, Director General, Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), stressed the importance of building adequate capacity to verify, assess and analyse safety reports, enabling pharmacovigilance data to effectively inform regulatory and clinical actions.

Dr. V. Kalaiselvan, Secretary-cum-Scientific Director, Indian Pharmacopoeia Commission, Ghaziabad, in his remarks, highlighted the need to strengthen the pharmacovigilance network at the grassroots level, with an aspiration for every Aspirational District to have at least one ADR Monitoring Centre (AMC) and one Medical Device Monitoring Centre (MDMC). He also emphasised greater utilisation of pharmacovigilance data, including exploring opportunities for drug repurposing and using safety data to support and promote the rational use of medicines.

The inaugural session also featured remarks by Prof. Sangeeta Sharma, Institute of Human Behaviour & Allied Sciences (IHBAS), New Delhi; Dr. Abdul Nasser, Cardiac Anaesthesiologist, Max Hospital, Vaishali; and Shri Aditya Kumar Mamgain, Deputy Secretary, Ministry of Health & Family Welfare, Government of India. Video messages were delivered by Shri Tukaram Mundhe, Commissioner, FDA Maharashtra and Dr. Shanthi Pal, Team Lead, Pharmacovigilance, World Health Organization (WHO).

A key highlight of the programme was the release of Volume 16, Issue 2 (2026) of the PvPI Newsletter, reflecting the programme’s continued efforts towards strengthening pharmacovigilance, promoting rational medicine use and enhancing public awareness on medicine safety.

The technical sessions focused on strengthening medication and patient safety. Prof. Sangeeta Sharma spoke on “Pharmacovigilance and Rational Use of Medicines: Two Pillars of Medication Safety”, while Dr. Abdul Nasser addressed “Beyond Medicines: Role of MvPI in Strengthening Patient Safety”, highlighting the complementary role of pharmacovigilance and materiovigilance.

The 6^th NPW reinforces the call for greater ADR reporting and the effective use of pharmacovigilance data to promote safer and rational use of medicines.

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SR

HFW/IPC inaugurates 6^th National Pharmacovigilance Week /17September2026/4

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