XV.B.3. Target audiences

The primary target audiences for safety communication issued by competent authorities and marketing authorisation holders should be patients, carers and healthcare professionals who use (i.e. prescribe, handle, dispense, administer or take) medicinal products.

As primary target audiences, healthcare professionals play an essential role in ensuring that medicines are used as effectively and safely as possible. Effective safety communication enables them to take adequate actions to minimise risks and to give clear and useful information to their patients. This ultimately promotes patient safety and confidence in the regulatory system. Both healthcare professionals in clinical practice and those involved in clinical trials should be provided with appropriate information on any safety concern at the same time.

Patient, consumer and healthcare professional organisations can play a role as multipliers as they can disseminate important safety information to target audiences.

The media is also a target audience for safety communication. The capacity of the media to reach out to patients, healthcare professionals and the general public is a critical element for amplifying new and important information on medicines. The way safety information is communicated through the media will influence the public perception and it is therefore important that the media receives safety information directly from the competent authorities in addition to the information they receive from other sources.