People are being reminded to report any suspected side effects from medicines or vaccines, to help ensure there is as much safety information as possible.
The sixth annual awareness week on medicine safety is the first since Covid-19 vaccines were approved and rolled out across the UK.
The medicines regulator said the campaign raising awareness of the scheme for reporting, known as the Yellow Card scheme, comes at a “crucial time” when millions of people are being jabbed against coronavirus.
Globally, the #MedSafetyWeek campaign is running for a week from Monday and involves medicine regulators from more than 60 countries.
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The UK regulator, the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA), said reporting possible side effects helps them to continue to monitor the safe use of all medicines and vaccines.
The social media campaign is aimed at urging healthcare professionals, national immunisation programme staff, as well as patients, their carers and families, to report suspected side effects from medicines or vaccines using the Yellow Card scheme.
Mick Foy, head of pharmacovigilance strategy at the MHRA, said: “The most important part of our work is making sure the vaccines and medicines you and your family take are effective and acceptably safe.
“This campaign comes at a crucial time when millions of people in the UK are vaccinated against Covid-19 but is equally applicable to all vaccines and medicines.
“Yellow Card scheme reports play a key role in helping the MHRA monitor the safe use of all medicines and vaccines to protect public health through effective regulation.
“Reporting suspected side effects using the Yellow Card scheme helps ensure vaccines, medicines and medical devices continue to be used in the best way and adds to the known safety information about healthcare products.”
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