Generic Medicines : Perceptions Of Physicians, Pharmacists, Consumers, Final Year Medical And Pharmacy Students In Iraq

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Date
2011
Authors
Al-Sharrad, Adheed Khalid Sharrad
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Abstract
Generic medicines provide an opportunity for major savings in health care expenditure to both government and consumers Within this context, no studies have been conducted in Iraq regarding the perceptions held by physicians, pharmacists, consumers and future practitioners such as medical and pharmacy students towards the prescribing, substitution, and use of generic medicines Therefore, the aims of this thesis were to investigate perceptions and knowledge held by both the healthcare providers and consumers toward the quality use of generic medicines in Iraq. In order to reach these aims, qualitative methods were used. Ten physicians were interviewed. Thematic content analysis of the interviews identified seven major themes: medicine prescribing practices, knowledge of therapeutic equivalency of generic medicines, patients’ acceptance of generic medicines, counterfeit medicines, source of information on medicines and the influence of drug advertising on the choice of medicine, brand substitution practices by community pharmacists, and strategies to improve the usefulness of generic medicines. A total of ten pharmacists were also interviewed. Five major themes emerged: generic medicines substitution practices, knowledge about generic medication, quality and safety of generic medicines, patient education by pharmacists regarding generic medicines and strategies to improve generic medicine utility.A total of fourteen consumers were interviewed in order to explore their opinion towards issues related to generic medicines use. Thematic analysis of the interviews identified five major themes: understanding of the term ‘‘generic medicine,’’ preference for generic medicine, refusal of generic medicine, generic substitution, and educating the consumers on the use of generic medicines. Based on the outcomes of the studies conducted in chapter 3, 4 and 5 of this thesis, particularly the apparent knowledge deficits of physicians and pharmacists, the knowledge and perceptions of generic medicines were explored among future medical and pharmacy practitioners in several universities in Iraq. For these studies, two questionnaire surveys were conducted. Chapter 6 and 7 of this thesis present the methodology and the study findings for these two surveys. Analysis of the Responses for both groups indicated that there is also a lack in knowledge regarding generic medicines, especially on the aspects of bioequivalence. In conclusion, this thesis highlights the existing barriers to the usage of generic medicines in Iraq from the points of view of physicians, pharmacists and consumers. In order to overcome these barriers, actions are needed to elevate confidence in generic medicines among healthcare practitioners. This can be achieved by providing appropriate topics at the undergraduate level, clarifying bioequivalence, safety and efficacy of generic medicines which appears to be currently lacking.
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Generic drugs
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