A message from the President of ISoP

ISoP was first conceived as an European society – the European Society of Pharmacovigilance (ESOP) in 1992, the brainchild of Professeur René Royer and his colleagues, who developed the spirit, vision and goals of that still guide ISoP. After several years of regular growth, recognizing that its actions were not limited to Europe , ESoP became ISoP. In the 10 years since ISoP held its first Assembly in Tunis, Tunisia, the Society’s global vision and statushas been confirmed by its growth, in the number of members and in the countries covered. The 2005 Annual Meeting, the first international pharmacovigilance meeting in the Far East , was in Manila , in the Philippines. In 2008 our annual meeting was in Buenos Aires, Argentina and in 2010 our annual meeting will be in Ghana. Scientific meetings are being prepared in Africa , training sessions in Asia, and Chapters are being organised in various European countries as well as in Australasia, Africa and Latin America, with the active support of a truly Worldwide Executive Committee. I do hope this stimulates pharmacovigilance in all parts part of our world, and reinforces the true global nature of ISoP.

Pharmacovigilance has been defined as "the science and activities relating to the detection, evaluation, understanding and prevention of adverse drug reactions or any other drug related problems" (based on the current WHO definition), or indeed more simply as "watchfulness in guarding against danger from drugs or providing for safety of drugs". This includes the identification of drug-related hazards, their evaluation and their prevention. Drug safety should be anticipated and engineered early on in the stages of drug design and be fully integrated within drug development. It is an essential must-do activity in the post-registration period due to the limitations of clinical trials.  Pharmacovigilance should also be at the core of the curriculum for prescribers and other healthcare personnel, during initial training and during continuing education. Patients are at the heart of our activity, and should be actively involved in education and information so that they can understand how they should play their part. Choice of therapy should rely not only on "evidence-based medicine", but also on individually tailored medication based among other factors on the genetic makeup of patients, and other individual parameters.

ISoP's aim is to promote all these aspects of drug safety: safer drug design, safer drug usage at the collective and individual level, by providing an international forum for all those with an interest in the clinical and scientific aspects of safe drug use. This is achieved by our yearly scientific meetings where our scientists can reveal the results of their research, and by training activities. Training courses are organized during our mid-year and annual meetings, and at other times as needed. In addition a core curriculum is being developed, to be used by ISoP members, Chapters and affiliates as needed, delivering a consistent message, in collaboration with other entities such as WHO or ISPE.

ISoP will work constructively with regulatory bodies involved in pharmacovigilance, and with the WHO Programme for International Drug Monitoring, always focusing on how the patient can be practically helped rather than just on the compliance with regulation.

I look forward to ever-closer relationships with scientific societies such as European Association for Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics (EACPT) to which ISoP is affiliated, IUPHAR Clinical Pharmacology, CIOMS, the European Drug Utilisation Research Group, the International Society for Pharmacoepidemiology (ISPE), and other societies and groups that share aims similar to ours.

The success of any scientific society depends upon its members. We live for and by our members. We expect their help, and will do whatever is in our power to reciprocate the enthusiasm that they devote to the Society.

I look forward to meeting many of you at our next Annual Meeting in Accra in November 2010 which will follow the WHO Annual National Pharmacovigilance Centres Meeting also in Accra. We hope the Accra meeting will be a grand celebration of ISoP’s ten years of existence which has been full of useful collaboration, rapid and careful expansion as well the creation and sustenance of regional and national chapters and several long-lasting partnerships and friendships..

Alexander Dodoo
President of the International Society of Pharmacovigilance.