Good Morning Ladies and Gentlemen,

It is my pleasure to welcome you all to witness another milestone by the Pharmacy and Poisons Board in protecting public health and promoting patient safety.

As you are aware, the Pharmacovigilance electronic reporting system (PvERS) has been in operation since the year 2013. In order to align with the international standards and cognizant of the expanded scope of pharmacovigilance globally, the PvERS was upgraded to PvERS II in March, 2021 to include reporting of adverse events following immunization, medication errors, transfusion reactions and incidents from medical devices. The PPB has received over 16,000 reports which have been used to inform policy change, review of treatment guidelines and various regulatory actions.

In this regard, the PPB through immense support from the USAID Medicines, Technologies, and Pharmaceutical Services (MTaPS) Program has developed a mPvERs system; a mobile based solution that provides a reporting platform of adverse reactions and suspected poor quality health products and technologies by the public. This will go a long way in strengthening reporting and

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vigilance on safety quality issues for health products and technologies in Kenya both by healthcare providers and the general public.

I sincerely thank the USAID Medicines, Technologies, and Pharmaceutical Services (MTaPS) Program, for their technical and financial support in the development of the mPvERs platform. Thank you each one of us for taking time off your busy schedules to attend this important function. We are always grateful for your support and collaboration.

As I conclude Ladies and Gentlemen, I have the pleasure to welcome our Chief Guest, the Chief Administrative Secretary, Ministry of Health; Dr. Rashid Aman to make his remarks and officially launch the platform.

Asanteni Sana