Järelevalve

Järelevalve is an Estonian term for post-market surveillance and ongoing supervision conducted after a product, service, or process has been released. It covers monitoring that aims to ensure safety, reliability, and regulatory compliance across sectors such as health care, consumer products, and environmental interventions.

In health care, järelevalve includes pharmacovigilance and post-market surveillance of medicines and medical devices. Authorities collect reports of adverse events, assess risks, and may require risk-management plans, warnings, or recalls when new safety concerns arise.

Beyond health care, järelevalve encompasses inspections, audits, reporting systems, and enforcement actions to address non-compliance and to verify that products and practices meet established standards. It also involves ongoing data collection, signal detection, and risk assessment to guide corrective measures.

The process is data-driven and typically coordinated by national regulatory authorities, often in alignment with European Union rules and international standards. Manufacturers, service providers, and agencies cooperate to detect signals, implement corrective actions, and communicate findings to the public and to stakeholders.

Overall, järelevalve supports public safety and accountability by identifying long-term issues that are not evident at launch, while presenting challenges related to resources, procedures, and balancing risk with innovation.