[Joint program of pharmacovigilance in Quebec: comparison with France, Aquitaine and the Basque region]

The Joint Pharmacovigilance Program in the province of Quebec was initiated by academic and professional bodies to serve since 1986 as a Regional Center for drug adverse reaction spontaneous reports. The contents of its database are compared with those of France, the Aquitaine Region around Bordeaux and the Basque country in Spain, recently presented in Thérapie. The similarity of some data is striking: two thirds of reported adverse effects are already labeled; fatal reactions account for 2%; the female/male ratio is > 1 and reaches 2 in patients aged > 74 years. The nature of reporters does however show some differences; 57% of Québec reports originate from pharmacists (90% in hospitals), against 0.8% in Aquitaine and 3.3% in the Basque. Specialists provide 21% of reports in Québec but are responsible for 63% in France. These discrepancies may be explained by organisational differences in professional practice. A comparison of the signal generating values of reports in the French system would be both interesting and feasible.