Uppsala Monitoring Centre

Uppsala Monitoring Centre (UMC) is a global pharmacovigilance centre located in Uppsala, Sweden. It is an independent foundation that works to advance the science of pharmacovigilance and improve patient safety worldwide.

History

The UMC was established in 1978 by the World Health Organization (WHO) as a response to the Thalidomide disaster in the 1960s. The centre was set up to monitor the safety of medicines and to promote rational use of drugs in member countries.

Role and Function

The UMC's primary role is to manage the WHO Programme for International Drug Monitoring, which collects and analyses reports of suspected adverse drug reactions from over 130 member countries. The centre maintains the largest database of its kind in the world, known as VigiBase, which contains over 20 million reports of suspected adverse drug reactions.

The UMC also provides training and support to national pharmacovigilance centres, conducts research into drug safety, and develops tools and guidelines to support pharmacovigilance activities worldwide.

VigiBase

VigiBase is the global database for individual case safety reports (ICSRs), managed by the UMC. It is the largest database of its kind, containing reports from over 130 countries. The database is used to detect signals of potential safety issues with medicines, which can then be investigated further.

Signal Detection

One of the key functions of the UMC is signal detection. This involves analysing data from VigiBase to identify new or changing safety issues with medicines. The UMC uses a range of statistical methods and algorithms to detect signals, and publishes its findings in the WHO Pharmaceuticals Newsletter.

Training and Support

The UMC provides training and support to national pharmacovigilance centres around the world. This includes training in signal detection, data management, and the use of VigiBase. The centre also develops tools and guidelines to support pharmacovigilance activities.

Research

The UMC conducts research into drug safety and pharmacovigilance. This includes studies into the causes and prevention of adverse drug reactions, the effectiveness of pharmacovigilance systems, and the use of real-world data in drug safety research.

See Also

• Pharmacovigilance
• World Health Organization
• Adverse drug reaction
• VigiBase
• Signal detection