OBJECTIVES: To investigate the perception of patients, physicians and pharmacists regarding generic medicines

METHODS: A quantitative cross-sectional survey was conducted in Gondar town, Northwest Ethiopia between January 1 and February 1, 2017. The questionnaire was administered to patients, physicians and pharmacists working in the community drug retail outlets. Frequencies, percentages, Mann Whitney and Kruskal Wallis tests were performed using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences(SPSS) version-21.0

RESULTS: According to the survey, more than half of patients 219(56%) knew about the term brand and generic medicines and about 151(38.7%) of patients agreed/strongly agreed that brand medicines are more effective. Nearly half 184(47%) of patients agreed that they should have the option of choosing between generic and brand medicines and more than half 240(61.4%) of patients believed that cost should be considered before a drug is prescribed. Majority of physicians 101(70.6%) indicated a very low generic medicine prescription rate. About 130(91%) of physicians and 68(87.2%) of pharmacists agreed that they need a standard guideline to both prescribers and pharmacist on brand substitution process. Furthermore, 57(39.9%) of the physicians and 68(87.2%) of pharmacists agreed that drug advertisements by the manufacturers would influence their prescribing/dispensing practice.

CONCLUSIONS: The findings demonstrate a knowledge gap among patients towards perception of generics, perceiving generics as less effective and inferior in quality compared to their branded equivalents. Majority of physicians reported a very low generic medicine prescription rate and majority of pharmacists’ dispensing practice were influenced by drug advertisements. Hence, a customized educational program should be developed and implemented to patients, prescribers and dispensers so as to boost the acceptability of generic medicines and increase generic prescribing and/or substitution. Furthermore, Food, Medicine, Healthcare Authority and Control Agency(FMHACA) of Ethiopia should work to ensure the quality of medicines both before market authorization and while they are on the market.