HYDERABAD: The Annual National Conference of the Society of Pharmacovigilance, India ‘SoPICon2008’ was held in Kolkata from January 9-11, 2009. The theme of the Conference was ‘Safer Medicines – Better Medicines’. Expert clinicians, pharmacologists, clinical pharmacists, industry representatives and other stakeholders of pharmacovigilance attended the Conference not only from different parts of the country but also from abroad.

Medicines are intended to relieve human suffering. Therefore patients and doctors as well find it offensive that they cause disease. Adverse drug reaction (ADR) reporting and monitoring system is important to collecting, collating and analyzing data as a means of establishing new knowledge and generating early signals of possible drug complications. The ultimate purpose is to prevent or minimize risks associated with use of medicines. Pharmacovigilance refers to all such activities was discussed.

We consider it a great pleasure and privilege that Dr. Khalid Saifuddin, senior manager of pharmacovigillance; MakroCare attended the conference as a Delegate and had opportunity to address the society meeting. Prof. KC Singhal, Patron, Prof. KK Sharma, President, Dr. Sandeep Agarwal, Secretary, Dr. Govind Mohan, Treasurer and Dr Santanu Tripathi, besides scores of professionals from all across India were present.

About MakroCare:
MakroCare, a global clinical services firm, provides clinical research support to pharmaceutical, biotechnology, and medical device industries. The company offers site selection, patient recruitment, project and data management, clinical monitoring, quality assurance, medical writing, PMS/PharmacoVigilance, biometrics, and regulatory assistance. MakroCare has offices in USA (New Jersey, Illinois, Pennsylvania), Asia (India) and Europe (Frankfurt).