Shanghai is advancing towards a significant milestone in pharmaceutical safety with plans to establish the largest adverse drug reaction (ADR) database in China. The nascent database has already amassed nearly 300,000 personal drug files and an excess of 10,000 ADR reports, providing a robust foundation for the project.
The “Setting Up Monitoring Platform System of ADR and Taking-Medicine Patients in Shanghai” initiative, which includes 300,000 elderly and middle-aged individuals, reveals that 55.8% of this demographic grapple with some form of disease, with 44.9% on medication. A concerning 0.7% have experienced severe ADRs severe enough to necessitate hospitalization. The Shanghai ADR Monitoring Center provides a conservative estimate that the ADR rate among the elderly fluctuates between 4.8% and 24%.
Upon completion, the database is intended to serve as a vigilant monitor for communities and families, with a commitment to regularly updating the public on its findings. Dr. Du Wenmin, Deputy Executive Director of the Shanghai ADR Monitoring Center and the database’s head, remarked that while the ADR database will be medium-sized by international standards, it will achieve comprehensive coverage of all drugs available on the market by year-end.
