By Joke Kujenya
PATIENTS, CAREGIVERS and healthcare professionals have been urged to report suspected medicine side effects as the World Health Organisation (WHO) joins a global awareness campaign aimed at improving medicine safety.
The 2026 MedSafetyWeek campaign, scheduled for 2 to 8 November, seeks to strengthen public awareness of unexpected reactions to medicines and encourage people to report them through their countries’ national medicine safety reporting systems.
Running under the theme, “Side effects: Don’t ignore them, report them”, the campaign highlights the importance of identifying unwanted reactions, even when people are uncertain whether a particular medicine caused them.
WHO said such reactions can include skin rashes, stomach upsets, sleep disturbances, mood changes and other unexpected symptoms.
They may occur shortly after treatment begins, following prolonged use, after a change in dosage or when different medicines are taken together.
Although medicines undergo rigorous evaluation before reaching patients, clinical trials cannot identify every possible side effect. Continuous monitoring after medicines become available therefore remains essential to detecting potential safety concerns.
According to the agency, its campaign stresses that every report matters because combining individual reports with scientific evidence can help identify previously unrecognised risks, improve understanding of medicine safety and inform measures to protect patients.
The global initiative also encourages patients and caregivers to recognise unusual reactions, seek advice from healthcare professionals and promptly report suspected side effects, regardless of whether they are certain that a medicine caused them.
Organised annually in November, MedSafetyWeek brings together Uppsala Monitoring Centre (UMC), medicines regulators and pharmacovigilance organisations worldwide to promote awareness and reporting of suspected adverse reactions.
Launched in 2016, the campaign addresses the challenge of underreporting, with less than 10 per cent of medicine side effects reportedly submitted through reporting systems.
Its activities also include online engagement and live events in schools, hospitals, pharmacies and other public spaces.
WHO invites members of the public and organisations to participate by sharing campaign materials on social media using the #MedSafetyWeek hashtag.
It adds that pharmacovigilance centres, patient organisations, and medical and pharmaceutical associations are also encouraged to join as official campaign partners.
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