12,13 The general impression is that training can help improve reporting. However, it is well known that ADR reporting is affected by many other factors other than training. In this study the type of health facility was found to have an influence on the likelihood of reporting an ADR. Doctors in government facilities had the highest reporting rate. While doctors in government facilities were almost Dasatinib order 5 times more likely to report an ADR compared to those in private facilities, doctors in quasi-government hospitals were 1.26 times more likely

to report an ADR compared to doctors in private facilities (Table 3). Medical officers and specialists were significantly more likely to

report an ADR compared to house officers (Table 3). This could be due to the fact that training programmes organized by the National Pharmacovigilance Centre in the years preceding CP-868596 in vivo this study excluded house officers because they were in medical school at the time. To improve the ADR reporting rate among house officers, the National Pharmacovigilance Centre needs to liaise with the medical schools to introduce training on spontaneous reporting to students prior to graduation. Interestingly the average number of patients seen in a day and involvement in clinical research by doctors was not found to be associated with the likelihood of reporting an ADR (Table 3). Although more than half (59.5%) of the doctors interviewed had seen at least one patient with an ADR in the preceding year, less than a quarter (20%) of those who saw a patient with a reaction went further to complete the spontaneous ADR reporting form. Almost all the doctors (96.4%) on the other hand, MTMR9 agreed that it was their professional responsibility to report ADRs. Why this did not translate into physical reports is attributable to a number of factors such as unavailability of reporting forms in consulting rooms, commonness of the reactions, the fact that the reactions were not serious, lack of knowledge of the reporting system/ procedure, lack of understanding

of the need to report, and lack of time to fill the form probably due to heavy a workload. They went further to suggest that other health professionals should participate actively in reporting ADRs, and receiving feedback on actions taken regarding their reports will encourage them to report more frequently. These reasons need serious consideration by the country’s pharmacovigilance officials and should be approached in a holistic fashion in order to help improve reporting rates among doctors and other health professionals. Conclusion Training was found to be significantly associated with improved ADR reporting. Most of the doctors who participated in this study had not previously received training on ADR reporting.