The Pharmacovigilance Center at the Faculty of Pharmacy was established by Decree No. 13370 dated 10 September 2004.
Objectives
The Center works to achieve the following objectives:
- Monitoring the side effects of drugs in Lebanon.
- Contributing to the improvement of public health in Lebanon.
- Educating the medical and pharmaceutical community about the latest developments in drug side effects.
- Training pharmacy students and pharmacists working in the medical field on the side effects of drugs.
- Coordinating directly with hospitals located and operating throughout Lebanon and the Lebanese Ministry of Public Health.
- Coordinating with the World Health Organization, especially UPPSALA Center, which monitors drug side effects worldwide.
- Coordinating with international centers specializing in monitoring the side effects of medication.
Center Management
The center was managed by Dr. Issam Kassab between 2019 and 2021.
General Provisions
Objectives & Tasks of the Center
Article 1
The Center shall work to achieve the following objectives:
1- Monitoring the side effects of drugs in Lebanon.
2- Contributing to the improvement of public health in Lebanon.
3- Raising awareness among the medical and pharmaceutical community about the latest developments in drug side effects.
4- Training fifth- and sixth-year pharmacy students and contributing to the training of pharmacists working in medical fields on the side effects of drugs.
5- Coordinating directly between existing hospitals operating throughout Lebanon and the Ministry of Public Health.
6- Coordinating with the World Health Organization, particularly UPPSALA Center in Sweden, which is responsible for monitoring the side effects of drugs worldwide.
7- Coordinating with all centers around the world specializing in monitoring the side effects of the drug.
Center Structure
Article 2
The Center reports directly to the dean of the Faculty of Pharmacy at the Lebanese University.
Article 3
The structure of the Center consists of:
A. The Director of the Center.
B. The Executive Board.
C. The Scientific Board of the Center.
D. Assistant Director of the Center
E. Administrative Unit
Article 4
The executive body consists of:
- The Director of the Center.
Three pharmacists specializing in the fields of Clinical Pharmacy, Toxicology, and Pharmacology, working full-time at the Faculty of Pharmacy.
- A member of the Faculty of Medicine, appointed by the Dean of the Faculty of Medicine.
- A member appointed by the Ministry of Public Health.
The members of the Executive Board are appointed by the Dean for a term of two years. In the absence of full-time professors in the department, one of the hourly-paid professors may be appointed.
Article 5
The Scientific Committee consists of:
- The Executive Board of the Center.
- A member delegated by the faculties of pharmacy in private universities operating in Lebanon.
Article 6
The director of the Center shall be appointed by the President of the Lebanese University based on a proposal from the Dean of the faculty and a recommendation from the members of the Center's executive body for a term of two years, renewable once. The director of the Center should be a full-time teaching staff member and a member of the aforementioned executive body.
The number of teaching hours for the director shall be reduced by 60 hours, to be deducted from his or her annual teaching quota, and he or she shall not receive any financial compensation for performing these duties.
Article 7
A pharmacist shall be appointed as assistant director in the capacity of trainer, holding a master's degree in one of the pharmaceutical sciences or its equivalent, by decision of the President of the Lebanese University based on a proposal from the Dean of the Faculty of Pharmacy based on the recommendation of the members of the executive body of the Center, under an annual training contract at a rate of 750 hours for the hourly wage recognized under the applicable laws and regulations, provided that the funding is taken from the budget of the Faculty of Pharmacy.
The assistant pharmacist's job is to help train fifth year and master’s students, receive information bulletins on drug side effects from the relevant centers (FDA, EMEA, ANSM), and analyze these bulletins before distributing them to doctors, pharmacists, and healthcare workers. They also do administrative, auditing, and clerical work.
Article 8
The Center benefits from cooperation agreements between the Lebanese University and local or international universities or scientific bodies and organizations to receive experts in this field and professors to organize lectures at the invitation of the Center's director.
Article 9
The Center shall organize international or local conferences on various topics related to the side effects of drugs, in accordance with the laws and regulations in force.
Article 10
The Faculty of Pharmacy may contract experts with proven extensive experience in the field of monitoring the side effects of drugs, preferably those who have publications in this field, in accordance with the laws and regulations in force, based on the proposal of the Center's executive body.
Article 11
The director of the Center shall participate in faculty council meetings devoted to Center affairs, without having the right to vote.
Article 12
The members of the Executive Board shall meet monthly and whenever necessary, upon the invitation of the director of the Center.
Article 13
The members of the Scientific Board shall meet twice a year and whenever necessary, upon invitation by the director of the Center.
Article 14
The Center's budget shall be secured from:
1. Appropriations allocated to the Center from the budget of the Faculty of Pharmacy.
2. Donations and grants (in accordance with the regulations in force).
Article 15
The Executive Board shall submit an annual report to the Presidency of the Lebanese University, presenting all activities carried out by the Center, particularly in the field of providing information on the side effects of drugs based on international studies in this field. A copy of this report shall also be sent to the Director General of the Ministry of Public Health and the deans of the participating faculties.
The Center reports directly to the dean of the Faculty of Pharmacy and consists of a director, an executive board, a scientific board, an assistant director, and an administrative unit.
The executive board consists of the Center's director, three specialist pharmacists from the Faculty of Pharmacy, a doctor from the Faculty of Medical Sciences, and a representative from the Faculty of Public Health.
The scientific board consists of the Center's executive board and a representative from the faculties of pharmacy at private universities in Lebanon.
The director of the Center is appointed by the President of the Lebanese University based on the recommendation of the dean of the Faculty of Pharmacy for a two-year term, renewable once.
The Center benefits from cooperation agreements between the Lebanese University and local or international universities or international bodies or organizations to welcome experts and professors to organize lectures at the invitation of the Center's director.
The Center organizes international or local conferences on various topics related to the side effects of drugs, and the Faculty of Pharmacy may contract experts and researchers who have publications in the field of monitoring the side effects of drugs.