Stakeholder identification initiatives

Various stakeholders have recognized the need to improve current pharmacovigilance practice and the opportunities that exist to expand the use of observational data in that pursuit (Berlin 2008). In 2007, the U.S. Congress passed the FDA Amendment Act, which in part mandated the "establishment of a postmarket risk identification and analysis system" that leverages observational health-care data, including administrative claims and electronic health records (EHRs), to monitor approved medicines on a periodic basis. In response, FDA established the Sentinel Initiative, an effort to create and implement a national, integrated, electronic system for monitoring medical product safety (Platt et al. 2009). 

The initial hazard identification studies identify a total of 76 hazard categories, broken down by stakeholder affected. To aid in the development of taxonomies, the framework of Manuj Mentzer (2008) was used as a foundation. However, given the preliminary nature of these results, it is likely that these will be restructured. 

The readership of FZ online has, after a peak of activity in 2005, now seemed to have reached a steady state of about 3000 log records per quarter. The vast majority of usage is from the developed world (especially Europe and North America), a level that is an order of magnitude above that of Africa. African stakeholders are not engaging with the project. Why this is so is not clear, perhaps because of a lack of reliable internet cormections, or competition from other initiatives (such as Aluka or the online Flora of Zimbabwe). If it is that problems lie with the online format, then there may be justification for an offline version of the Flora, which could be distributed either by download, on CD-ROM or DVD existing interactive key software could prove a suitable medium for such a product and might also incorporate identification tools such as an Interactive Key To African Plants. ... 

A flurry of recent taxonomic initiatives, such as the Encyclopedia of life project and the Global Biodiversity Information Facility, have exemplified one of the most crucial issues facing systematists today the question of how best to supply basic taxonomic information to those who need it most. This issue is of growing concern because the worldwide biodiversity crisis demands immediate conservation action based upon scientific evidence, which in turn relies upon accurate species-level identifications. This chapter describes a UK Darwin Initiative-funded project. Building capacity for forest inventory in the Republic of Congo, which aims to supply such information to stakeholders in the Republic of Congo (Congo-Brazzaville). 

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