CMUS and Monash University Malaysia host joint workshop on pharmacoepidemiology

More than 35 clinicians, researchers and policy makers have come together as part of a pharmacoepidemiology workshop in Bandar Sunway, Malaysia. The two-day workshop was jointly organised by the Centre for Medicine Use and Safety (CMUS) and School of Pharmacy, Monash University Malaysia. The workshop sought to build research capacity in the analysis, interpretation and reporting of medication data for the purpose of improving clinical practice.

CMUS Director Professor Simon Bell said “Many clinics and hospitals across Asia have converted or are converting to electronic medical and medication record systems which means there’s much greater data availability than before.”

The workshop provided participants with an overview of different epidemiological data sources, study designs and critical appraisal skills. Representatives from the Ministry of Health Malaysia described initiatives including the National Medication Error Reporting System (MERS), National Centre for Adverse Drug Reactions Monitoring, and the Acute Stroke Registry in Malaysia. The workshop program also included a series of presentations from early- and mid-career researchers.

Professor Shaun Lee from Monash University Malaysia said, “the meeting was a great initiative to share practice and policy priorities and to discuss how our team at Monash University Malaysia can work with different stakeholders to support better medication management. This was the first of a series of Monash-led workshops in Malaysia and across the region to promote new data driven approaches for improving medication safety.”

CMUS Senior Lecturer Dr Jenni Ilomaki, who leads a research program specialised in analyses of administrative pharmacy data, said “the workshop was designed to support initiatives that generate high quality local and national evidence to address medication safety.”

Medication without harm was the topic of the World Health Organization’s Third Global Patient Safety Challenge, with the goal to halve severe, avoidable medication-related harm over a five-year period. The Workshop received local sponsorship from AstraZeneca.