OBJECTIVES: Generic medicine prescribing has become a common practice in many countries. However, data regarding the perception of stakeholders (patients, prescribers and dispensers) regarding generic medicines in Ethiopia is scarce. The present survey aimed at investigating the perception of patients, physicians and community pharmacists regarding generic medicines in Ethiopia.

METHODS: A quantitative cross-sectional survey was conducted between January 1 and February 1, 2017. The questionnaire was administered to patients, physicians and community pharmacists. Frequencies, percentages, Mann Whitney and Kruskal Wallis tests were performed using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) software version 21.0 for Windows (SPSS Inc., Chicago, IL).

RESULTS: Majority of patients surveyed (83.1%) agreed that the costs of medicines in Ethiopia is too high and 61.4% of respondents believed that cost should be considered before a drug is prescribed. 75.2% of patients accept the pharmacist substituting their prescribed medications to a cheaper medicine. On the other hand, majority of physicians (70.6%) indicated a very low generic medicine prescription rate. About 91% of physicians and 87.2% of pharmacists agreed that they need a standard guideline to both prescribers and pharmacist on brand substitution process. Furthermore, 39.9% of the physicians and 87.2% of pharmacists agreed that drug advertisements by the manufacturers would influence their prescribing/dispensing practice.

CONCLUSIONS: Our findings demonstrate that a significant proportion of patients, doctors and pharmacists hold negative perceptions of generic medicines. The insights obtained in the present study will be useful to healthcare organizations, policy makers and other stakeholders to design and implement a robust generic medicine policy and guideline, thereby promoting the rational and cost-effective use of medicine in the country.