Evaluating community pharmacists' perceptions and practices on generic medicines: A pilot study from Peninsular Malaysia

This expert article was written by Zaheer-Ud din Babar and Ahmed Awaisu and first published in Journal of Generic Medicines, Volume 5, Number 4, July 2008

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Publication size: 16 pages
Publication date: July 2008
Published by: Palgrave Macmillan Publishing
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AUTHOR(S):

Zaheer-Ud din Babar¹
Ahmed Awaisu<sup>2

1</sup>is a lecturer at the School of Pharmacy, Faculty of Medical & Health Sciences, The University of Auckland, New Zealand. He has a Master's degree in clinical pharmacy and a PhD in social pharmacy. He has worked for several years in Malaysia as an academic and his major areas of interest are drug pricing, generics, access and affordability to medicines, self-medication practices and pharmacy education. He has also worked with World Health Organization and Health Action International on pharmaceutical pricing and policy issues.

²is a doctoral fellow at the Discipline of Clinical Pharmacy, School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Penang, Malaysia. He has published many articles on clinical pharmacy education and practice in leading pharmacy journals.

ABSTRACT

The objective of this paper was to study the perception and practices of community pharmacists on generic medicines in relation to dispensing and substitution trends. A cross-sectional survey of randomly selected community pharmacies across West Malaysia was conducted. A total of 40 pharmacies were surveyed in four geographical regions of West Malaysia by using a questionnaire. About 41 per cent of the respondents had 41-60 per cent of their stocks as generics and more than half of the community pharmacists agreed that high profit margin is one of the reasons for their practice of generic substitution. The majority of the pharmacists (62 per cent) did not favour the concept of compulsory generic substitution. When asked about their views on 'government-initiated mass campaign' to the public on generic medicines in lieu of 'more concerted contribution by the pharmacists on educating consumers', only 73 per cent agreed with this point. In conclusion branded drugs were widely available at community pharmacies and are actively dispensed by pharmacists even for chronic diseases. The practice of generic substitution/dispensing was more driven by consumer demand than it was influenced by pharmacists. The use of generic medicines can be enhanced by improving their quality, instituting proper generic medicine-substituting policies as well as by educating consumers.

ABOUT THE JOURNAL Journal of Generic Medicines ISSN: 1741-1343 The Journal of Generic Medicines is guided by its respected Editor Greg Perry (European Generic Medicines Association) and an international Editorial Board of leading practitioners and Association representatives from the generics industry. Journal of Generic Medicines is the major, international business journal written by and for expert analysis, briefings and legal updates on all aspects of business development, regulatory affairs, manufacturing and marketing affecting the generic pharmaceutical industry. Each quarterly issue publishes analyses, briefings and updates which are of direct relevance to practitioners and that meet the highest intellectual standards.