Structured Pharmacovigilance and Training Initiative (SPHARTI)

SPHARTI is a Pharmacovigilance training model based on the World Health Organization (WHO) accredited Structured Operational Research Training Initiative (SORT-IT) model [R]. The goal of the model is to address the acute shortage of trained healthcare workers for the reporting of adverse drug reactions (ADR) in Nigeria. This problem contributes to the under-reporting of ADR, which is a global health problem accounting for 5%-35% hospitalization in most countries. The model combines six distinct but inter-related activities which are training workshops, participants’ mobilization, monitoring and evaluation, setting up a reporting system, providing leadership and collaborating with the government. Participants in the model acquire skills and knowledge for accurate and prompt reporting of ADR to the national drug regulatory authority, the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC). SPHARTI has trained 55 participants, who in turn trained about 2000 health-based staff, equivalent to over 3000% increase. In nine months, the 55 participants collected and reported more 3000 individual case safety reports (ICSR) to NAFDAC. There was an increase of 273% in submission of ICSR to NAFDAC. NAFDAC adopted the model and used it to train 600 healthcare workers from 10 states in Nigeria.

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