Familiarity, Knowledge and Practices of Healthcare Professionals Regarding the Pharmacovigilance of Biological Medicines in Lusaka, Zambia: A Multi-Facility Cross-Sectional Study

Background: Pharmacovigilance of biological medicines is crucial because it ensures that meet the World Health Organization (WHO) standards. In Zambia, there little information on healthcare professionals’ familiarity, knowledge and practices pharmacovigilance biosimilar medicines. Therefore, this study investigated knowledge, related to (PV) at selected hospitals in Lusaka, Zambia. Methods: The was an analytical questionnaire-based cross-sectional conducted among professionals (HCPs) Adult hospital, Cancer Diseases Paediatrics hospital Women New Born Hospital Lusaka. Data were collected over four weeks May June 2021 subsequently analysed using IBM SPSS version 21. statistical significance set a 95% confidence interval. Results: Of 245 participants, only 115 (48.9%) HCPs familiar with basic understanding. Regarding term biosimilars, most (40.9%) never heard word. mean score for regarding PV considerations 4.1 out 8 questions. Most used non-proprietary names (44.2%) when prescribing, dispensing, or administering Additionally, more than half (57.3%) did not record batch numbers dispensing Conclusion: Healthcare biosimilars. generally scored poorly their assessed. Thus, need provide adequate training continuous professional development