Empowering consumers as contributors for health product safety: lessons from the Philippines

Empowering consumers to contribute to adverse drug reaction reporting seems a sensible innovation, particularly when traditional reports emanating from healthcare professionals are neither increasing nor improving. This work, inspired by an EU-FP7-funded project, describes an attempt by the Philippines to introduce a consumer reporting system through education and an online platform for reporting, and the lessons that were captured in the process. While participating consumers did not contribute to the adverse drug reporting process in the traditional sense as originally expected, the reports received by the drug regulatory agency revealed consumers' concerns regarding health product legitimacy, quality and market claims, as well as the lack of available and accessible information. These reports led regulators to take action. Initial insights on consumer behavior are proposed for regulators and industry to consider in greater depth and how this may impact on consumers providing valued information that will promote other aspects of product safety.