THE IMPACT OF PHARMACEUTICAL PROMOTION ON PHYSICIAN’S PRESCRIPTION OF NEW BRAND MEDICINES: THE CASE OF TIKUR ANBESSA SPECIALIZED HOSPITAL AND ADDIS HIWOT GENERAL HOSPITAL

Abstract

Promotion for prescription drugs in most pharmaceutical industry is different from the traditional marketing approach in that it is directed towards physicians who are professionally and legally allowed to prescribe instead of towards the final consumers/patients. Some studies conducted outside Ethiopia pointed out that pharmaceutical promotion is one factor influencing physicians to prescribe brand medicines. So, this study, considering the Ethiopian context, aimed to assess the relationship and impact of pharmaceutical promotional strategies being implemented by drug representatives/promotors on physician’s (working in Tikur Anbessa Specialized Hospital and Addis Hiwot General Hospital) brand medicine prescription decision. A cross sectional descriptive explanatory study design was used to execute the study. Without any sampling, all the study population (all physicians working in the two hospitals mentioned) were invited to participate in the study. Out of the invited 213 physicians, 174 physicians were able to respond to a self-administered structured questionnaire. The study found out that majority of physicians believe that both generic and brand medicines have similar contents and equal health treatment effects in addition to the generic medicines having lower price in the Ethiopian market. What is more is that implementation of pharmaceutical detailing and new drug advertisement strategies is found to have significant impact on brand medicine prescription while sponsorship promotion techniques have almost no significance. The study concluded that pharmaceutical promotions has a positive relationship with brand medicine prescription and can influence physicians to prescribe more of new promoted brand medicines than those of generic medicines. Finally, the study recommended the need for continuous awareness program for physicians regarding the influence of promotions and how to deal with drug promoters, and for ministry of health and hospitals to control and enforce the implementation of the national drug policy regarding pharmaceutical promotion and prescription practices.