NTA Level 5 • Semester 1 • PST05105

Ethical Issues in Medicines Marketing and Promotion

Rational Use of Medicines • Source Session/Topic 14

Full source-text version: all educational wording from the extracted learning source is retained; only presenter/tutor metadata and web-layout noise are removed, while formatting is improved for readability.

Session 14: Ethical Issues in Medicines Marketing and Promotion

Total Session Time: 120 minutes

Prerequisites

• None

Learning Tasks

By the end of this session students are expected to be able to:

• Give introduction of ethical issues in medicines marketing and

promotion

• List objectives of ethical issues in medicines marketing and

promotion

• Identify ethical issues in medicines marketing and promotion

• Identify ethical issues in medicines marketing and advertisement

Resources Needed:

• Flip charts, marker pens, and masking tape

• Black/white board and chalk/whiteboard markers

SESSION OVERVIEW

SESSION CONTENTS

STEP 1: Presentation of Session Title and Learning Tasks (05 Minutes)

READ or ASK students to read the learning objectives and clarify

ASK students if they have any questions before continuing.

STEP 2: Introduction to Ethical Criteria in Medicines Marketing and

Promotion (25 minutes)

• Ethical issues for drug promotion should lay the foundation for proper

behaviour concerning the promotion of medicinal drugs, consistent with

the search for truthfulness and righteousness.

• The criteria should thus assist in judging if promotional practices

related to medicinal drugs are in keeping with acceptable ethical

standards.

• WHO ethical criteria for medicinal drug promotion of 1988 require

promotion of prescription and over-the-counter drugs to contain reliable

claims without misleading or unverifiable statements.

• The ethical promotion of medicine is vital to the pharmaceutical

industry’s mission of helping patients for better healthcare.

• The pharmaceutical industry has an obligation and responsibility to

provide accurate information about its products to healthcare

professionals in order to establish a clear understanding of the

appropriate use of medicines.

• The criteria could be used by people in all walks of life; by

governments; the pharmaceutical industry (manufacturers and

distributors); the promotion industry (advertising agencies, market

research organizations and the like)health personnel involved in the

prescription, dispensing, supply and distribution of drugs; universities

and other teaching institutions; professional associations; patients' and

consumer groups.

• There is evidence that drug utilization problems are increasing

encountered in many developing countries due to unethical practices of

medicine promotion.

STEP 3: Objective of Ethical Criteria in Medicines marketing and Promotion

(25 Minutes)

The following are the objectives of ethical criteria for medicines

marketing and promotion:

• To support and encourage the improvement of health care through the

rational use of medicinal drugs and discourage unethical practices.

• To lay the foundation for proper behavior concerning the promotion of

medicinal drugs, consistent with the search for truthfulness and

righteousness.

• To assist in judging if promotional practices related to medicinal drugs

are in keeping with acceptable ethical standards.

• To ensure that healthcare professionals have access to information they

need and that medicines are prescribed and used in a manner that provides

the maximum healthcare benefit to patients.

STEP 4: Ethical Issues in Medicines Marketing and Promotion

(30 minutes)

|Activity: Buzzing (10 minutes) |

|ASK students to pair up and buzz on the following question for 2 |

|minutes |

|What are the ethical criteria in medicines marketing and promotion? |

|ALLOW few pairs to respond and let other pairs to add on points not |

|mentioned |

|WRITE their response on the flip chart/board |

| |

|CLARIFY and SUMMARIZE by using the content below |

The following are the ethical criteria in medicines marketing and promotion

• Healthcare professionals should not be influenced to prescribe,

recommend, purchase, supply or administer a product because of any

benefits offered (financial or otherwise).

• Promotion should encourage the appropriate use of pharmaceutical

products by presenting them objectively and without exaggeration.

• Ethical criteria for Medicines marketing and Promotion call for promotion

of prescription drugs, non-prescription drugs (over-the-counter drugs),

traditional medicines and any other product promoted as a medicine to

contain reliable claims without misleading statements.

• The criteria also state that promotion should not contain omissions that

could lead to health risks

• The criteria state that promotion should not contain unverifiable

statements or omissions likely to induce medically unjustifiable drug use

or to give rise to undue risks.

• They emphasize that promotion should not be disguised as educational or

scientific activities.

• Active promotion within a country should take place only with respect to

drugs legally available in the country.

• Promotion should be in keeping with national health policies and in

compliance with national regulations.

• All promotion making claims concerning medicinal drugs should be

reliable, accurate, truthful, informative, balanced, up-to-date, and

capable of substantiation and in good taste.

• The word "safe" should only be used if properly qualified. Comparison of

products should be factual, fair and capable of substantiation.

• Promotional material should not be designed so as to disguise its real

nature.

• Scientific data in the public domain should be made available to

prescribers and any other person entitled to receive it, on request, as

appropriate to their requirements.

• Promotion in the form of financial or material benefits should not be

offered to or sought by health care practitioners to influence them in

the prescription of drugs.

• Scientific and educational activities should not be deliberately used for

promotional purposes

STEP 5: Ethical Issues in Medicines marketing and Drug Advertisement

(25 minutes)

• Advertisements to the general public should help people to make rational

decisions on the use of drugs determined to be legally available without

a prescription.

• They should not generally be permitted for prescription drugs or to

promote drugs for certain serious conditions that can be treated only by

qualified health practitioners, for which certain countries have

established lists.

• To fight drug addiction and dependency, scheduled narcotic and

psychotropic drugs should not be advertised to the general public.

• While health education aimed at children is highly desirable, drug

advertisements should not be directed at children.

• Advertisements may claim that a drug can cure, prevent, or relieve an

ailment only if this can be substantiated.

STEP 6: Key Points (05 minutes)

• Ethical issues for drug promotion should lay the foundation for proper

behaviour concerning the promotion of medicinal drugs, consistent with

the search for truthfulness and righteousness.

• Promotion should encourage the appropriate use of pharmaceutical products

by presenting them objectively and without exaggeration.

• Advertisements to the general public should help people to make rational

decisions on the use of drugs determined to be legally available without

a prescription.

STEP 7: Evaluation (05 Minutes)

• What are the ethical issues in medicines marketing and promotion?

• List objectives of ethical issues in medicines marketing and

promotion?

References

MoHSW (2003), Tanzania, Food, Drugs and Cosmetics Act, Government Printer,

Dar essalaam Tanzania

Ross-Degnan, D, Laing RO, Quick, JD et al, (1992)A strategy for promoting

improved pharmaceutical use: The International Network for Rational Use of

Drugs. SocSci and Med. 35 (11) 1329–41.

MoHSW (2005), The Pharmacy (Education and Training) Regulations; Government

Printer, Dar essalaam Tanzania

← Previous Topic Next Topic →View all Rational Use of Medicines topics Open Complete Full Notes

PDF / OFFLINE NOTES

Unataka kutumiwa notes hizi kupitia WhatsApp?Kwa notes zilizopangiliwa vizuri kwa kusoma offline au PDF, bonyeza kitufe hapa chini. Ujumbe wenye Level, Semester, Module na Topic utaandaliwa moja kwa moja.TUMIWA NOTES WHATSAPP

WhatsApp: 255620339260