Fabad Journal of Pharmaceutical Sciences, vol.43, no.1, pp.79-90, 2018 (Scopus)
© 2018 Society of Pharmaceutical Sciences of Ankara (FABAD). All rights reserved.Today, the use of cosmetics and personal care products is increasing due to «giving higher importance to physical appearance» and «the need of being well-groomed» day after day. Thus, higher use of these products provides awareness of the society for their unwanted effects. However, spesifically in our country reporting the adverse effects related to cosmetic usage is extremely rare. The underlying reason is that the mild and moderate reactions are usually identified and cured by the user himself. Moreover, such effects are undervalued because there are no official and reliable surveillance systems. For this reason, the implementation of «cosmetovigilance system» in the last years is becoming a new concept. This system is important not only for research and determination, but also for preventing the risks that are originated from the use of cosmetics. «Cosmetovigilance» is a surveillance system that evaluates the unwanted effects of cosmetic usage and aims to protect public health. Cosmetovigilance enables the control or removal of the potentially hazardous substances from the system. In 2006, the decision of the Eropean Union has set the ground work for a cosmetovigilance system based on case notifications. The European Union regulation that is issued in 2013 requires the nations to install their own cosmetovigilance systems, to provide the necessary authorization for the inspection authorities in order to enable the system to work actively, to motinor the unwanted effects because of cosmetic use and to expound the obtained results to the public. In our country, Turkish Medicines and Medical Devices Agency (TMMDA) publishes guidelines for the follow-up of the unwanted effects caused by cosmetic use and for the minimization of such effects. In addition, TMMDA tries to implement a functioning system for the benefit of ultimate users, health care providers and producers. This review will mention the functioning of the cosmetovigilance system. In addition, we will present the results of the cosmetovigilance surveys of different countries.