Impact of pharmaceutical promotion on healthcare professional's practices and behaviour: Views from general practitioners, medicine dispensers and medical representatives in Yemen

Abstract

The relationship between pharmaceutical companies and medical professionals should serve the patients' best interests and improve the use of medicine in society. The aim of this study is to explore the current status of pharmaceutical promotion and its influence on healthcare professionals' practices and behaviour in Yemen. A qualitative approach was used to gain a better understanding of the current status of pharmaceutical promotions and its influence on the quality use of medicine among healthcare professionals in Yemen. A total of 30 doctors, medical representatives and medicine dispensers were interviewed using a semistructured interview guide. The saturation point of the interview was reached after the fourth interview, and no new themes emerged from the subsequent four interviews. All interviews were transcribed verbatim and analyzed by means of a standard content analysis framework. A total of five themes were identified from the interview analysis: evaluation of current pharmaceutical promotions, types and importance of promotional techniques, the importance of satisfying doctors' needs, the influence of the economic situation and the influence of doctor/medical representative interactions on the medicine dispensers' business behaviour. We concluded that all of the offered promotional items were in exchange for the doctors' prescriptions. The participants assured us that pharmaceutical companies use unfavourable promotional methods to ensure that their products sell. They also believed that the doctors' low income and the patients' inability to afford medications was a suitable environment for unethical pharmaceutical promotion. Doctors benefitted from this situation by demanding that pharmaceutical companies satisfy their needs, either scientifically or personally. The absence of official regulation encourages such an environment. This study identified a number of key themes that might be useful in enhancing awareness concerning the nature of the current pharmaceutical companies' relationship with healthcare professionals and its impact on healthcare professionals' practices and behaviour.