The Seventy-ninth World Health Assembly has adopted a resolution to strengthen pharmacovigilance, the system used to detect, assess and prevent safety problems linked to medicines, vaccines and other health technologies. The move puts medicine safety monitoring firmly inside the wider agenda of resilient health systems.
The resolution asks countries to strengthen and integrate systems that track adverse events, improve regulatory capacity and develop the workforce needed for safety surveillance. It also encourages digital tools and real-world data so that early warning signs are not missed or delayed.
Pharmacovigilance is often invisible when it works well. Patients usually hear about medicines when they are approved, prescribed or recalled. But between those moments, health authorities need systems that can collect reports from hospitals, doctors, pharmacists and patients, identify unusual patterns and communicate risks without creating panic.
The World Health Assembly's focus reflects lessons from recent health emergencies. During fast-moving outbreaks and vaccination campaigns, public confidence can depend on how quickly authorities detect safety signals and explain them. Poor communication can allow misinformation to fill the gap.
For countries with large public and private healthcare markets, the challenge is coordination. Safety reports must move across hospitals, clinics, pharmacies, manufacturers, regulators and public-health departments. Digital systems can help, but they need training, standards and trust.
The resolution matters because access to medicines is not enough. People also need confidence that medicines are monitored after they reach the market. Strong pharmacovigilance protects patients, supports universal health coverage and gives regulators better evidence for decisions.
