SKIMS Sets Up Pharmacovigilance Committees to Enhance Drug Safety Monitoring
Srinagar: In a major step toward enhancing drug safety and patient care, the Sher-e-Kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences (SKIMS), Soura, has constituted a Pharmacovigilance Committee to oversee and report Adverse Drug Reactions (ADRs) and conduct benefit-risk assessments of medicines.
A similar committee has also been constituted at SKIMS Medical College and Hospital, Bemina. Both panels will be chaired by the respective Medical Superintendents and will include doctors from various departments as members.
The committees have been tasked with a comprehensive mandate that includes identifying ADRs among all sections of healthcare providers, ranging from doctors, consultants, and nurses to pharmacists, technicians, postgraduate and undergraduate students, and other service providers. These findings will be reported to the National Pharmacovigilance Centre to support the broader goals of the Pharmacovigilance Programme of India (PvPI).
An official order stated, "In partial modification to office order under refernce, sanction is hereby accorded to the reconstitution of Pharmacoviqilance Committee at SKIMS, Comprising the following, for detection, assessment, understanding and prevention of adverse effects or any other medicine/vaccine related problem, as per the guidelines of National Medical Commission (NMC) and National Board of Examinations in Medical Sciences (NBEMS)".
The primary objectives include continuous monitoring of the benefit-risk profile of medicines administered within SKIMS institutions. Additionally, the committees will generate independent, evidence-based safety recommendations and communicate their findings with relevant stakeholders to ensure transparency and accountability. Other key responsibilities include promoting research initiatives focused on pharmacovigilance, initiating measures to reduce the occurrence of ADRs, and making drug therapies safer and more rational. The establishment of these committees underlines SKIMS’s commitment to strengthening patient safety protocols and contributing actively to national healthcare quality standards.
The Pharmacovigilance Committee members at SKIMS Soura are- Prof. Faroog Ahmad Jan, Medical Superintendent, SKIMS, Soura, Prof. Bashir Ahmad Fomda, Head, Department of Microbiology & I/C Head, Department of Clinical Pharmacology, Prof. Mushtaq Ahmad Bhat, Head, Department of Pediatric & Neonatology, Prof. Sheikh Riaz Rasool, Department of Radio-diagnosis, Prof. Bashir Ahmad Dar, Department of Anesthesiology, Prof. Ajaz Nabi Koul, Department of General Medicine, Prof. Rabia Khurshid, Department of Obstetrics & Gynecology, Dr. Munir Ahmad Wani, Additional Professor, Department of General Surgery, Officer I/C Drug & Pharmacy and Officer I/C Nursing Administration.
The Pharmacovigilance Committee members at SKIMS Medical College & Hospital, Bemina are- Prof. Shafa A. W. Deva, I Medical Superintendent, Dr. Sheikh Sajad Ahmad, Prof. & Head, Department of Ophthalmology, Dr. Saheel Majid, Prof. & Head, Department of Orthopedics, Dr. Mohammad Shakeel Sheikh, Prof. & Head, Department of Dentistry, Dr. Seema Qayoom, Prof. & Head, Department of Dermatology, Dr. Abdul Majid Ganai, Prof. & Head, Department of Psychiatry, Dr. Asef Ahmad Wani, Prof. & Head, Department of E.N.T, and Dr. Semira, Assistant Professor, Department of Pharmacology.
