UMChttp://www.who-umc.org/DynPage.aspx?id=14292Page 2 of 82010-06-23In early <strong>1998</strong> two new persons were employed. Ms Inger Forssell is our new sales assistantwho will also take care of accounting for the <strong>Centre</strong>. Ms Erica Wallette, replacing MonicaPettersson during her extended maternity leave, will mainly be working with processing ofincoming adverse reaction reports.News from around the worldAustraliaThe former head of the national pharmacovigilance centre in Australia, Dr Alain Rohan, hasnow become director of pharmacovigilance at the company 3M in Saint Paul, Minesota,USA. He may be contacted by fax (+1-612-7336068) or e-mail (arohan1@mmm.com)European UnionAt the office of the Commission of the European Union, Directorate General III, in BrusselsDr Ana de Vasconcelos Batalha now has the responsibility for pharmacovigilance issues, inthis function succeeding Mr Philippe Meyer, who has moved to DG I. Dr Batalha paid a veryshort visit to our centre in November 97.New ZealandThe <strong>Centre</strong> for Adverse Reactions <strong>Monitoring</strong> (CARM) has got a new head after Dr PeterPillans, who late 1997 took up a position as Professor of Clinical Pharmacology at PrincessAlexandra Hospital, Brisbane, Australia. He is replaced by Dr David Coulter, since long headof the Intensive Medicines <strong>Monitoring</strong> Programme.South AfricaDr Ushma Mehta supervised a pharmacovigilance training course held in Cape Town on 29November. There were 14 participants including representatives from Ethiopia, Sudan,Scotland, Moczambique, Ghana and South Africa. The principles of problem-based teachingwere used. Questions like when to report, who should report, confidentiality and the specialconcerns of African countries, created a lot of discussion during this short course that mightbe repeated next year.SudanCommissioned by the WHO Regional Office for the Eastern Mediterranean, Dr RonnieMeyboom of the Netherlands spent the two first weeks of <strong>1998</strong> in Sudan, lecturing aboutpharmacovigilance and how to set up a national centre. His report will contain a plan onhow such a centre may be established in the country.TanzaniaMs Rose Shija, the former head of the Tanzania Drug and Toxicology Information Service(TADATIS) in Dar-es-Salaam, has left the centre for another post in Ministry of Health. MrHenry Irunde is now head of the centre which has established new headquarters within thepremises of the Pharmacy Board. The relevant address is TADATIS, Pharmacy Board,P.O.Box 77150, Dar es Salaam, TanzaniaCourses and meetings in pharmacovigilanceCoursesInstituto de Saud Publica de Chile is going to organize a training course in adverse reactionmonitoring in Santiago de Chile, 15 - 20 June, <strong>1998</strong>. The syllabus is based on that
UMChttp://www.who-umc.org/DynPage.aspx?id=14292Page 3 of 82010-06-23developed by UMC for the two-week training course run in <strong>Uppsala</strong> 1993 - 96. For moreinformation please contact Dr Q. F. Cecilia Morgado-Cadiz, Centro Nacional de Informatiónde Medicamentyos y Farmacovigilancia, tel +56-2-2399769, fax +56-2-2398760, e-mailcmorgado@ispch.clThe pharmacovigilance department of ANMAT, the Argentinian Administration for Control ofDrugs, Food and Medical Devices, is setting up a pharmacovigilance training course in 9modules to run from April to November, <strong>1998</strong>. Information may be received from Dr MabelFoppiano or Ms Viviana Bologna phone/fax +54-1-3400866, e-mail snfvg@anmat.gov.arAt the UMC we have decided to again organize an international training course in adversereactions and adverse reaction monitoring in <strong>Uppsala</strong>. It will be held the first two weeks ofDecember <strong>1998</strong> and be combined with an anniversary symposium to celebrate the 30 yearsof existence of the WHO Programme and 20 years of the <strong>Uppsala</strong> <strong>Monitoring</strong> <strong>Centre</strong>.Invitations will be widely distributed to our contacts throughout the world. Contact personat UMC is Sten Olsson.MeetingsDrug Information Association (DIA) is organizing a meeting entitled '<strong>Monitoring</strong> Safetythrough the Life-Cycle of a Pharmaceutical Product' at Hotel Copthorn Tara, London 23 - 27February <strong>1998</strong>. Information may be received from DIA, phone +41-61-3869393, fax +41-61-3869390, e-mail diaeurope@stepnet.deManagement Forum is organizing its 10 th Annual Conference on Pharmacovigilance inLondon 9 - 10 <strong>March</strong>, <strong>1998</strong>. The title is 'ADR <strong>Monitoring</strong> Across Europe and USA'.Information will be provided on phone +44-1483 570099, fax +44-1483 536424, e-mailmanagement_forum@psilink.co.ukA round table conference with the theme 'Impact of pharmacovigilance. Old Problems andNew Challenges' will be organized 16 - 17 <strong>March</strong>, <strong>1998</strong> in Costa Rica. For more informationplease contact Dr Albin Chavez phone + 506-2221878, fax +506-2577004, e-mail:farmaco@info.ccss.sa.crA CODATA/ESOP-conference with the theme' Pharmacovigilance: Information HighwayTools for Adverse Reactions- Implications on Drug Design and Pharmacogenetics' will beheld in Chambéry, France 20 - 21 April, <strong>1998</strong>. Information may be received from prof. René-Jean Royer, phone +33-3-83592617, fax +33-3-83592621, e-mail: pharmaco@pharmacomed.u-nancy.frIBC UK Conferences Ltd organizes a meeting on 'Regulatory Requirements for ADR's andAdverse Events' in London, 20 - 21 April, <strong>1998</strong>, Information may be obtained at phone +44-171-6374383, fax +44-171-6313214, e-mail caroline.elliott@ibcuk.co.ukOn 4 - 5 June <strong>1998</strong>, Smi organizes a conference in London with the title 'SuccessfullyMeeting Global ADR Requirements'. Information is provided by Jane Falconer on phone +44-171-8276072, fax +44-171-8276073, e-mail 100531.3067@compuserve.comThe International Society for Pharmacoepidemiology (ISPE), organizes the 14thInternational Conference on Pharmacoepidemiology at Hotel Inter-Continental, Berlin,Germany on 16-19 August , <strong>1998</strong>. For information contact Katrina Crist, phone +1-202-4161641; fax: +1-202-8333843; E-mail: kcrist@slackinc.com. The abstract deadline isFebruary 28, <strong>1998</strong>.The European Society of Pharmacovigilance (ESOP) will have its sixths annual meeting inBudapest, Hungary, 28 - 29 September, <strong>1998</strong>. Further information may be received fromJános Borvendég or Sándor Elek, The National ADR <strong>Monitoring</strong> <strong>Centre</strong>, phone/fax +36-1-2158977The national ADR monitoring centre in Malaysia is organizing a national conference withinvited guests from the ASEAN region the first week of November, <strong>1998</strong>. For moreinformation please contact Ms Abida Haq, phonel +60-3-7573611, fax +60-3-7562924, e-mail ah@bpfk.gov.myPharmacovigilance development in Portugal