logo
episode-header-image
Sep 2023
42m 43s

Uppsala Reports Long Reads – Empowering ...

Uppsala Monitoring Centre
About this episode

A patient's perspective can ensure safe medical care and lead to new insights that traditional research may overlook. But how do we best harness that perspective to improve patient outcomes?

This episode is part of the Uppsala Reports Long Reads series – the most topical stories from UMC’s pharmacovigilance news site, brought to you in audio format. Find the original article here.

After the read, we speak to Manal Younus, who authored the article, to learn more about patient engagement and its benefits for medicines safety.

Tune in to find out:

  • How regulators and healthcare professionals can effectively engage patients
  • How patients can get involved in drug safety monitoring
  • What the pharmacovigilance community learned from the valproate case

Want to know more?

In 2022, the Council for International Organizations of Medical Sciences (CIOMS) published a comprehensive report on patient involvement in the development, regulation and safe use of medicines. They also recorded a webinar to summarise the report’s main conclusions.

The International Society of Pharmacovigilance (ISoP) runs a patient engagement group to advance patient involvement in the safety monitoring of medicines.

The Valproate toolkit, developed by the UK’s Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA), supports healthcare professionals in advising women of childbearing age about the risks and benefits of valproate therapy.

PatientsLikeMe is a digital platform where patients can share personal health stories, connect to peers, and learn about different conditions and treatments.

For more on patient engagement and communication, check out these episodes from the Drug Safety Matters archive:

Finally, don’t forget to ­subscribe to the monthly Uppsala Reports newsletter for free regular updates from the world of pharmacovigilance.

Join the conversation on social media
Follow us on Twitter, Facebook or LinkedIn and share your thoughts about the show with the hashtag #DrugSafetyMatters.

Got a story to share?
We’re always looking for new content and interesting people to interview. If you have a great idea for a show, get in touch!

About UMC
Read more about Uppsala Monitoring Centre and how we work to advance medicines safety.

Up next
Jun 19
#38 Patient perspectives in PV: a fireside chat at the ISoP Mid-Year Symposium
This special episode was recorded at the mid-year symposium of the International Society of Pharmacovigilance (ISoP), 14–15 May 2025. Held in Uppsala, Sweden, the theme of the symposium was Improving information capture for safer use of medicines. The episode is an abridged recor ... Show More
34m 44s
May 28
#37 Beyond numbers: quality in ADR reporting – Henry Zakumumpa
Spontaneous adverse event reporting from healthcare professionals and patients is a cornerstone in pharmacovigilance systems. Unfortunately, it is a well-known issue that only a fraction of events is reported. To further complicate matters, poor quality reports present a signific ... Show More
38m 49s
Mar 2025
#36 Pregnancy-related pharmacovigilance – Levente Pápai, Lovisa Sandberg & Sara Vidlin
There are many reasons why use of medical products during pregnancy requires special attention. First and foremost, we want to be sure that the medicine is as safe as possible for both the pregnant person and the unborn child. Unfortunately, the safety profiles of medicines used ... Show More
36m 44s
Recommended Episodes
Jun 2
Episode 123: Advancing Healthcare Quality in Lebanon – A Conversation with Maysaa Jaafar
In this insightful episode, we sit down with Maysaa Jaafar, President of the Lebanese Society for Quality and Safety in Healthcare (LSQSH), to explore the remarkable journey of the society since its inception. Maysaa shares the story behind the establishment of LSQSH, shedding li ... Show More
29m 32s
Sep 2023
*Special Episode* Celebrating World Patient Safety Day 2023: Healthcare is, above all else, a human interaction
Jamie Thomas King is an experienced actor in film, television and stage and a devoted student of yoga and meditation for more than twenty years. After the preventable death of his second son, Benjamin, Jamie’s deep respect for self-care, spiritual guidance, and human connection p ... Show More
40m 42s
Apr 29
Tackling bias in health
Bias in the way medical research is carried out means that new medicines for diseases such as cancer – as well as the tools used to diagnose patients with some conditions – are disproportionally tested on people of European heritage. This can lead to those not represented in the ... Show More
23m 18s
Jul 2024
An ICU doc's take on the Metabolic Health crisis with Dr. Kwadwo
TODAY'S GUESTDr. Kwadwo Kyeremanteng is an intensive and palliative care physician at the Ottawa and Montfort hospitals. Solving Healthcare launched in 2019, is a 5-star rated podcast (Apple Podcasts) with 278 episodes where Dr. Kyeremanteng dives in deep with guests coverin ... Show More
1h 2m
Jun 2020
Covid-19 update: Cardiovascular disease, testing, social distancing and shielding, and dexamethasone
Kieran Walsh, clinical director at BMJ, asks editors from BMJ Learning and BMJ Best Practice to summarise the latest clinical guidance related to covid-19. Emma Scott discusses the latest guidance on cardiovascular disease. And Matt Castleden updates us on NHS Test and Trace, shi ... Show More
11m 12s
Oct 2024
The Power of Personalized Medication Management | Direct Access Podcast; ComputerTalk
The power of personalized medication management — that’s the topic of Pharmacy Technology & Management Review's Maggie Lockwood's interview with Hammad Shah, R.Ph., CEO of Clarest Health. A pharmacist by trade, Hammad explains the technology-driven platform using sophisticated al ... Show More
39 m
Oct 2024
Breaking Barriers in Maternal Care: Hyperemesis Gravidarum and Beyond with Dr. Aimee Brecht-Doscher | MaternalRx
Register for the Hyperemesis Gravidarum (ICHG2024) on November 6-7, 2024 now! www.hyperemesis.org/ichg2024/registration/ In this episode of MaternalRx, host Danielle Plummer, PharmD, speaks with the inspirational Dr. Aimee Brecht-Doscher, a pioneering Obstetrician and Gynecologis ... Show More
37m 26s
Nov 2024
E238 - (CME) From Treatment Plans to Patient Plans: Patients as Partners in Bipolar Disorder Treatment
In this CME episode, Drs. Andrew Cutler and Roger McIntyre discuss the challenges and importance of diagnosing bipolar disorder as early as possible in the course of the illness. They also review strategies to achieve a correct diagnosis to provide the most efficacious and tolera ... Show More
1 h
Jan 2025
News Year, Who Dis? 2025's First Health and Science Stories
In this episode, Dr. Jessica Steier and Dr. Sarah Scheinman explore a diverse range of current scientific topics, from seasonal illnesses to cutting-edge biotechnology. The scientists discuss the mechanisms behind winter disease outbreaks, particularly focusing on colds and norov ... Show More
39m 58s
Dec 2024
#263 - 🟢 [HOT TOPICS 2024] - Unlocking the Power of Big Data in Neonatology
Send us a textIn this episode, Ben and Daphna sit down with Dr. Reese H. Clark, research consultant and associate professor at Duke University, to discuss leveraging electronic medical records (EMRs) and big data to improve neonatal care. Dr. Clark highlights the transformative p ... Show More
11m 21s