The International Patients’ Union (IPU), a strategic unit of Digital Health Associates, has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Indian Pharmacopoeia Commission (IPC). The collaboration aims to reshape healthcare by prioritising patient-driven and outcome-focussed healthcare solutions.
The primary objective of this collaboration is to introduce a technology-enabled platform through the Patients Union App, empowering patients to contribute their perspectives on Adverse Drug Reporting (ADR). With access to the Medicines Side Effects Reporting Form, patients can report ADRs to the Pharmacovigilance Programme of India (PvPI).
Furthermore, IPU and IPC will collaborate on organising awareness campaigns, workshops and interactive sessions to educate the public about ADR reporting. By capturing unfiltered patient voices, this partnership aims to raise awareness among consumers and patients regarding the critical importance of ADR.
Commenting on this association, Dr Rajendra Pratap Gupta, Founder, IPU, said, “This is for the first time that the patients can report directly through a mobile app. This marks the beginning of a tech-enabled era where patients don’t get the voice, but the power to share and drive the change they want. This is also the beginning of a patient-centric and patient-led healthcare system.”
IPU was established with the mission of connecting patients to a tech-enabled platform.
Dr Rajeev Raghuvanshi, Secretary-cum-Scientific Director, IPC and Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI), also said, “This is a much-needed tie-up, and the Indian Pharmacopoeia Commission (IPC), through this partnership, will give consumers an access to an additional platform where they can report ADRs. This will go a long way in patient-centric care system. We hope to leverage this partnership to sensitise consumers of medicines, and also, to address the issue of AMR in the times to come. At the end, we have to be where the consumers are, and listen to them, and IPU seems to be that national platform for patients.”