2. What is a direct healthcare professional communication (DHPC)?
The EMA produced the ‘Guideline on good pharmacovigilance Practices (GVP) Module XV – Safety communication’. This document details also the preparation, coordination and dissemination of DHPCs.
As defined by the EMA, a direct healthcare professional communication or DHPC is ’a communication intervention by which important safety information is delivered directly to individual healthcare professionals by a marketing authorisation holder (MAH) or a competent authority, to inform them of the need to take certain actions or adapt their practices in relation to a medicinal product.
The document notes also that ‘DHPCs are not replies to enquiries from healthcare professionals, nor are they meant as educational material for routine risk minimisation activities’.