The Perception of Physicians and Pharmacists Towards Non-Branded Medications in Tikur Anbessa Specialized Hospital

Abstract

In many countries, including our country Ethiopia, health care expenditures have continuously grown during the past years. One way to reduce health care expenditures for household is physicians shift to prescribing less expensive comparable generic drugs instead of more expensive brand name drugs. This can reduce drug expenditures and make health care for households more affordable. The aim of the study was to assess the level of perception with physicians and pharmacists towards non branded (generic) medications use.The study design was a cross sectional descriptive study conducted from March, 2015 to April, 2015 in Tikur Anbessa Specialized Hospital (TASH), Addis Ababa.The study populations included physicians who were volunteers and available at the time of the survey. A descriptive analysis (percentage, cross tab) and bivariate correlation was used to describe demographic information and perception of physicians and pharmacists regarding non branded medications. The results were presented in the form of figures, tables and texts. A total of 223 physicians and 92 pharmacists were invited to participate in the study and only 197 physicians and 92 pharmacists filled and returned the questionnaire giving a response rate of 88.34% and 92% respectively.Both Physicians and pharmacists agreed about better affordability of generic medicines over brand ones. In conclusion, most of the respondent physicians and pharmacists relatively had good perceptions towards generic medicines use based on the result obtained. In addition to this, most of the respondent believed that generic medicines are affordable, and can save costs. As a recommendation it is encouraged to provide continuous educational intervention in order to encourage physicians and pharmacists to have the right information to benefit the patient.