A New Erice Report Considering the Safety of Medicines in the 21st Century.

Pharmacovogilance policy, methods and practice require transformation at all levels to create an integrated, comprehensive, continuously improving system, fulfilling the broader remit of overall healthcare vigilance. In pursuit of this vision, energetic measures, including active engagement with patients, are needed to reduce our ignorance about many aspects of patients' experience of medical therapies and their outcomes, including the benefits, but especially the extensive harm known to be caused by medical interventions. More information and communication in this domain will help set more accurate and realistic public expectations about the benefits and harm of therapy.

Global pharmacovigilance for antiretroviral drugs: overcoming contrasting priorities.

Jur Strobos and colleagues describe the deliberations of a recent multi-stakeholder meeting discussing the creation of a sustainable global pharmacovigilance system for antiretroviral drugs that would be applicable in resource limited settings.