Just when the COVID-19 vaccination was introduced into the country, a lot of people started questioning the efforts that the Food and Drugs Authority in Ghana is putting in place to monitor the efficacy and toxicity of the vaccines.
The FDA of Ghana in collaboration with WHO, UNDP and MHRA has the ‘Med Safety App’ which can be used to report side effects of vaccines and other health products such as medicines, infusions, blood and blood products.
The app also gives a list of all products registered in Ghana by the FDA and adverse reactions that have already been reported about any drug selected. It also has a section that gives updates on news relating to health and medication error reporting.
The app is available to the general public and health care providers as well.
Let’s look at how you can report the side effects or adverse effects of the vaccine or any medicine at all using this app.
Steps to report adverse effects
- Download and Install the app
- Create an account
(Check this post out for instructions on how to install and create an account)
- Select “Report” on the bottom menu bar
- Provide patient details (ie: details of the individual who is showing the side effects of the vaccine or drug)
- Provide details of suspected medicine or vaccine. You can choose from the list of predefined medicines and vaccines or enter the name if it does not exist among the list.
- You can then add details of any other medications that the patient was taking before or with the drug being reported.
- Provide details of the suspected reactions.
- State the date on which such reactions were observed.
- Provide the reaction outcome (Has it resolved or not?)
- Add additional information or comments like the medical history of the individual or patient and then submit the report.
Note that during the process of creating the report, you can save it any time and submit at a later time.
After submitting a report, you will receive a confirmation message in the app about your submission. You will also receive an email acknowledgment of your submission.
You can create a report on this app without internet connectivity but it will only be submitted when you get connected to the internet.
WRITTEN AND EDITED RESPECTIVELY BY:
Dr. Ehoneah Obed is a registered pharmacist and a member of the Pharmaceutical Society of Ghana. He has a Doctor of Pharmacy degree from Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology and has experience working in a Tertiary hospital as well as various community pharmacies. He is also a software engineer interested in healthcare technologies.
His love for helping others motivates him to create content on an array of topics mostly relating to the health of people and also software engineering content.
He is knowledgeable in digital marketing, content marketing, and a host of other skills that make him versatile enough to uplift any team he joins.
MPSGH, MRPharmS, MPhil.
Isaiah Amoo is a practicing community pharmacist in good standing with the Pharmacy Council of Ghana who has meaningful experience in academia and industrial pharmacy. He is a member of the Royal Pharmaceutical Society, England, UK and currently pursuing his overseas pharmacy assessment programme (MSc) at Aston University, UK. He had his MPhil degree in Pharmaceutical Chemistry at Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology. He has about 5 years’ experience as a community Pharmacist and has also taught in academic institutions like KNUST, Kumasi Technical University, Royal Ann College of Health, and G-Health Consult. He likes to spend time reading medical research articles and loves sharing his knowledge with others.
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