Methods, tools, and techniques in toxicovigilance

Abstract

Toxicovigilance is the active process of identifying and evaluating the toxic risks existing in a community, and evaluating the measures taken to reduce or eliminate them. The operation of toxicovigilance requires the use of methods, tools, and techniques. The objective of this article is to describe the organization of toxicovigilance, to identify their components, and to specify the methods, tools and techniques which are applied to them and are necessary for their operation. To achieve those goals, we based our study on a bibliographic synthesis, where some key references were selected, analysed, and summarised. The results of our study have shown that the performance of a toxicovigilance system requires the mastery and integration of methods, tools, and techniques by trained and experienced staff. Those methods, tools and techniques can be classified into six stages. The study also showed that the practice of toxicovigilance is one of the core tasks of a poison control centres. Our study has shown that Anti-poison and Pharmacovigilance center Morocco constitutes a real observatory in terms of toxicovigilance. It ensures a vigilance and alert function concerning different toxic groups.