Establishment of the first cancer hospital-based pharmacovigilance center in Nepal

Abstract

Pharmacy practice in many emerging countries such as Nepal is still in the development phase. The evidence on pharmacy practice targeted to cancer patients in Nepal is very limited. There is only limited evidence about the oncology pharmacy practice after Khanal et al. published an article oncology pharmacy practice in a teaching hospital in Nepal in 2008.1 They highlighted a simple pragmatic model of pharmacy practice or cancer patients. They highlighted provision of drug information services, pharmacovigilance, and pharmacists' participation in a clinical ward round with other healthcare professionals to study medication-related problems as the basic activities which can be carried out in Nepalese context. Adding to this, Shrestha et al. argued about the financial burden associated with the management of adverse drug reactions (ADRs) beside their impact on human life.2 With limited human and capital resources, these activities cannot be sustained; as such, a team of medical oncologists and pharmacists at a Nepal Cancer Hospital and Research Center, initiated a cancer hospital-based regional pharmacovigilance center, with those activities described briefly herein.