ArticleBMJ global health2017
Perceptions of the quality of generic medicines: implications for trust in public services within the local health system in Tumkur, India.
Article in BMJ global health, 2017. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 18 papers.
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Who cites it
18 citing papers in PubMed, 59 citations in OpenAlex.
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- Resource shortage in public health facilities and private pharmacy practices in Odisha, India.Health policy and planning · 2024Article
- A comprehensive quality control and cost comparison study of branded and generic angiotensin receptor blockers.Saudi pharmaceutical journal : SPJ : the official publication of the Saudi Pharmaceutical Society · 2024Article
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- Blockchain Adoption for Generic Drugs in the Medicine Supply Chain with Consumers' Risk-Aversion: A Game-Theoretic Model Within Chinese Legal Framework.Risk management and healthcare policy · 2024Article
- Catastrophic health expenditure on private sector pharmaceuticals: a cross-sectional analysis from the state of Odisha, India.Health policy and planning · 2022Article
- Patient preferences for facility-based management of hypertension and diabetes in rural Uganda: a discrete choice experiment.BMJ open · 2022Article
- Improving access to medicines for non-communicable diseases in rural primary care: results from a quasi-randomized cluster trial in a district in South India.BMC health services research · 2021Article
- Perspectives of pharmaceutical stakeholders on determinants of medicines accessibility at the primary care level.The Journal of the Egyptian Public Health Association · 2021Article
- "Our fear is finished," but nothing changes: efforts of marginalized women to foment state accountability for maternal health care in a context of low state capacity.BMC public health · 2019Article
- Quality of medical products for diabetes management: a systematic review.BMJ global health · 2019Article
- Quality of medicines in resource-limited settings: need for ethical guidance.Global bioethics = Problemi di bioetica · 2018Article
- Health systems research on access to medicines: unpacking challenges in implementing policies in the face of the epidemiological transition.BMJ global health · 2017Article
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Authors and funding
7 authors at 2 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
Abstract
introductionGeneric medicines are an important policy option to reduce out-of-pocket expenditure on medicines. However, negative perceptions of their quality affect utilisation and raise issues of confidence and trust in medicines and health services. The aim of the study was to test the quality of generic and branded medicines and explain negative perceptions towards generic medicines.
methodsThe study was part of a larger study on access to medicines. Information on various quality parameters was collected for branded medicines and branded and unbranded generic versions of the same medicines from government and private pharmacies in Karnataka in Southern India. To assess perceptions related to quality and drivers of preferred point of care (public vs private), focus group discussions were conducted with diabetes and hypertension patients, health workers and private pharmacists. The results of the quality tests were assessed and thematic analysis was conducted on the qualitative data to develop a conceptual framework to explain perceptions of medicine and care quality in the local health system.
resultsThe generic and branded variants of the medicines tested were of comparable quality. Contrary to the quality test results, patients' and health workers' perceptions of quality were largely in favour of branded medicines. Negative perceptions of medicine quality along with other drivers contribute towards choosing more expensive medicines in the private sector. Trust in the health system emerged as an underlying central theme that explained and drove choice of medicines and providers within the local health system.
conclusionNegative perceptions of generic medicines and preferential promotion of branded medicines over generics by pharmaceutical companies could influence prescriber behaviour and affect trust in healthcare provided in public services. To succeed, access to medicines programmes need to systematically invest in information on quality of medicines and develop strategies to build trust in healthcare offered in government health services.
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