The reporting of adverse drug reactions has been working well during the pandemic - but there is room for improvement

Reporting of suspected adverse drug reactions (ADRs), from healthcare professionals and from consumers, contributes to early detection of new safety risks with medicines. The reporting of adverse reactions has been working well during the pandemic but indicates at the same time a significant under-reporting (hidden statistics). The propensity to report clearly increases with enhanced communication. Consumer reports are an important complement to reports from health care professionals and contribute to valuable insights both within regulatory follow-up and research. Reporting of suspected ADRs is an important source that needs to be supplemented with other data sources for causality analysis. For reporting of suspected adverse reactions to continue to be a valuable tool in the search for new signals, we need to develop sustainable reporting systems and communication channels that meet our various needs in close cooperation between authorities and other actors.