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Health Equity

SW-1E - Advances in Pharmacoepidemiology in Africa: The African Regional Interest Group Experience

Sunday, August 24, 2025
1:30 PM - 3:00 PM ET
Location: 204ABC

    Presenting Author(s)

  • Paul Coplan, ScD

    Johnson & Johnson, United States

    • Co-Author(s)

  • KA

    Kwame Appenteng

    Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals, Inc
    Ridgefield, Connecticut, United States

    • Co-Author(s)

  • Karen Cohen, MBChB MMed(Clin Pharm) MSc(Epid)

    Associate Professor, Division of Clinical Pharmacology, Dept of Medicine, University of Cape Town
    University of Cape Town
    Cape Town, Western Cape, South Africa

    • Co-Author(s)

  • CE

    Chioma Ejekam

    WHO Regional Office for Africa, Congo, (Congo – Brazzaville)

    • Co-Author(s)

  • BD

    Brid Devlin

    Population Council

  • SO

    Sylvia A. Opanga, PhD

    Sylvia is an Associate Professor of Clinical Pharmacy and Pharmacoepidemiology and an innovator
    School of Pharmacy University of Nairobi Kenya
    Nairobi, Kenya

Background
The African Regional Interest Group of ISPE was initiated in 2018 and has held 4 annual conferences (2 virtual and 2 in-person). Africa constitutes 18% of the world’s population (1.4 million) with distinct health challenges to which pharmacoepidemiology can contribute.

Objectives
The purpose of this symposium is to highlight some of the uniquely African aspects of pharmacoepidemiology that emerged from the past regional conferences of interest to the general ISPE community.

Description
The 1st talk will address will describe safety surveillance within HIV management programs in Africa and describe the mix of clinical trials, cohort studies and pharmacovigilance systems used to evaluate drug safety among people living with HIV in Africa. The impact of recent funding cuts on these research and treatment programs will be addressed. (Prof. Karen Cohen, University of Cape Town, South Africa).

The 2nd talk will cover advances in pharmacovigilance for medication safety in Nigeria and Democratic Republic of Congo, in partnership with WHO (Dr Chioma Ejekam).

The 3rd talk will provide an update on use of pre-exposure prophylactic (PrEP) medication use in Africa, including oral short-acting, vaginal rings, and injectable, long-acting forms of PrEP. RWE on the safety, compliance and effectiveness of PrEP will be discussed (Brid Devlin, Population Council).

The 4th talk will provide an update on monitoring systems for antimicrobial drug resistance in Africa and initiatives to reduce selection for drug resistant pathogens (Prof. Sylvia Opanga, University of Nairobi).

The session will be co-moderated by Kwame Appenteng and Paul Coplan from AfRIG.