Bulgarian Medicines Verification Organization took part in the most significant event in the calendar of the Bulgarian Pharmaceutical Union, the 16th annual forum Bulgarian Pharmaceutical Days 2023. The event is traditionally associated with the professional holiday of Bulgarian pharmacists (Enyovden) and was held under the title “Opportunity for Development”. It was attended by pharmaceutical professionals, representatives of state institutions, academia, students, manufacturers, wholesalers, representatives of Bulgarian and international organizations, as well as many specialists in the field of healthcare.
In the scientific plenary session Mrs. Illiana Paunova, executive director of BgMVO gave a lecture on “Current aspects of medicines verification in Bulgaria”. The participants were acquainted with the indicators of EMVO monitoring report on the implementation of Falsified medicines directive in Europe and Bulgaria, with special attention paid to the low level of only 50% decommissioning of dispensed medicines in Bulgarian pharmacies. The data on the alerts generated in the Verification System were shown, most of which, over 80%, are the result of technical errors in scanners and pharmacy systems.
Mrs. Paunova also presented the amendments to Ordinance 39 on Good Distribution Practice and with several practical examples demonstrated the processes of pack quarantine and alert management, underlining the importance of medicines verification and decommissioning for protecting Bulgarian patients from falsified medicines. The lecture was accompanied by a lively discussion and many questions from everyday practice.
Over 850 participants followed the program of the Bulgarian Pharmaceutical Days’ forum with great interest. Within the event, awards for Master Pharmacist of the year, Regional Pharmaceutical college of the year, various categories of medicinal and non-medicinal products were solemnly presented.