AIIMS Jammu unveils Poison Information, Adverse Drug Reaction Monitoring Centers

Jammu: In a move aimed at promoting poison awareness and education, the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) Jammu on Thursday marked a significant milestone with the inauguration of Poison Information and Adverse Drug Reaction (ADR) Monitoring Centers.

The inauguration ceremony, graced by Prof (Dr) Y.K Gupta, AIIMS Jammu President, alongside Prof (Dr) Shakti Kumar Gupta, founder Executive Director and CEO, witnessed the presence of Deans, Associate Dean and senior officials at AIIMS, Vijaypur, Jammu.

As per the official communique, on the occasion, Prof. Y. K. Gupta stressed that the Poison Information Centre will play a crucial role in protecting public health by providing timely assistance, promoting poison awareness, and facilitating collaboration among stakeholders to prevent and mitigate the impact of poison-related incidents, news agency UNI reported.

The Executive Director and CEO, Prof Shakti Kumar Gupta, stressed that AIIMS, Jammu not only provides service but will also takes leadership in capacity building of other health centres and hospitals in poison information services so that the hazards of poisoning are drastically reduced in the Union Territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh.

Dr Sonia Shinde Mahajan, Assistant Professor and Officer In-charge, Department of Pharmacology and Deputy Co-ordinator ADR Monitoring Centre, informed that the Poison Information Centre is a specialised unit that is equipped with evidence-based software that will enable the on-duty Pharmacologists to provide the latest evidence-based information for the management of the poisonings.

She said the centre will have dedicated telephone numbers, (both landline and mobile, that will be communicated in due course of time), on which queries regarding any accidental exposure to or intentional use of poisons will be received from people as well as neighboring hospitals.

Dr. Sonia elaborated that pertinent information will be provided to the caller at the earliest after receiving, assessing, and analyzing the query. Initially, the centre will be operational from 9 am to 5 pm and in due course of time shall be made functional round the clock.

In the future, the Centre will be upgraded to a Poison Information and Management Centre that will keep stock of antidotes for common poisonings and make them available to needy cases.

Medicines used for treatment are liable to produce adverse effects, that may occur whenever they are taken.

According to a UNI report, Dr Ritesh Kumar, Assistant Professor, Pharmacology and Co-ordinator, ADR Monitoring Centre, AIIMS, Jammu, emphasized that adverse drug reactions (ADRs) lead to tremendous healthcare expenditure but, at the same time, are preventable if timely identified and reported.

He informed that both healthcare professionals and consumers can report any unwanted effects they experience after the use of medicines to the ADR Monitoring Centre of AIIMS, Vijaypur, Jammu.

The numbers for reporting these shall be shared shortly. The Centre at AIIMS, Vijaypur, Jammu, will work towards reporting ADRs and help reduce the harm caused by medicines.

Dr Sartaj Hussain, Faculty In-charge of ADR causality assessment, and Dr. Anna Javed, Faculty In-charge OPD & IPD ADR Reporting, along with the senior residents and nursing officers were also present on the occasion.

Thus, the ADR Monitoring Centre and the Poison Information Centre will be developed as centres of excellence to cater to the poisoning-related needs of the people of the near as well as far-flung areas of Jammu, Kashmir, and Ladakh.

Their main focus shall be to reduce the harm that occurs due to adverse drug reactions due to medicines and poisonings, which are major public health problems leading to patient morbidity and mortality. Overall, the Poison Information Centre will play a critical role in safeguarding public health by preventing poisonings, offering prompt assistance in emergencies, and promoting poison awareness and education.