Pharmacovigilance and Adverse Drug Reaction Reporting Activities in the United Arab Emirates: A Scoping Review

The evolution of the pharmacovigilance system in the UAE has been associated with the fast growth of the country. The pharmacovigilance system in UAE was established in the year 2008. In 2013, UAE became a full member of the WHO Programme for International Drug Monitoring. There has been no assessment of published literature on pharmacovigilance and adverse drug reaction (ADR) reporting activities in the UAE. This study aimed at evaluating the ADR reporting and pharmacovigilance system in the UAE based published articles. A literature review was conducted to identify published articles as per PRISMA statement, assessing the pharmacovigilance system and ADR reporting in UAE. PubMed, Scopus, Open Access Journal, and Google Scholar databases were searched using relevant keyword. A total of 18 articles and 2 book chapters were eligible to be included in the review. Formal national pharmacovigilance programs are available under the Ministry of Health. Major challenges related to pharmacovigilance systems are financial and human resources. The results emphasized the critical need for interventions to support ADR reporting activity and to maintain healthcare providers’ positive attitudes. The most common factors that can enhance ADR reporting according to this study are encouraging patients to report ADRs, continuing education on ADR monitoring and reporting, and adding ADR reporting topics in the health professions curriculums. While a number of healthcare providers participated in suspected ADR reporting activities, mostly performed without a specific system of reporting. Use of technology must be explored to ensure the ease of spontaneous reporting and subsequent data management.