Vaccine pharmacovigilance in India: Current context and future perspective

Pharmacovigilance of vaccines is of paramount importance to promote the safe use of vaccines among their recipients. India launched the Adverse Events Following Immunization (AEFI) surveillance program in 1986 for monitoring suspected adverse events following immunization and since then, the AEFI surveillance guideline has been updated periodically, with the latest being in 2015. The successful AEFI surveillance program in India required the concerted effort of all stakeholders such as National AEFI Secretariat, National Technical Collaborating Centre, Central Drug Standard Control Organization, marketing authorization holder, and health-care professionals.