Pharmaceutical
advertisement of drugs is a means of advocating drug use and their
selling but not a substitute for drug formulary to guide physicians
in safe prescribing.
Objectives: To evaluate drug advertisements in Nigerian and other
African medical journals for their adequacy of pharmacological
information.
Methods: Twenty four issues from each of West African Journal
of Medicine (WAJM), East African Medical Journal (EAMJ), South
African Medical Journal (SAMJ), Nigerian Medical Practitioner
(NMP), Nigerian Quarterly Journal of Hospital Medicine (NQJHM)
and Nigerian Postgraduate Medical Journal (NPMJ) were reviewed.
While EAMJ, SAMJ and NMP are published monthly, the WAJM, NQJHM
and NPMJ are published quarterly. The monthly journals were reviewed
between January 2005 and December 2006, and the quarterly journals
between January 2001 and December 2006. The drug information with
regards to brand/non-proprietary name, pharmacological data, clinical
information, pharmaceutical information and legal aspects was
evaluated as per World Health Organisation (WHO) criteria. Counts
in all categories were collated for each advertiser.
Results: Forty one pharmaceutical companies made 192 advertisements.
112 (58.3%) of these advertisements were made in the African medical
journals. Pfizer (20.3%) and Swipha (12.5%) topped the list of
the advertising companies. Four (2.1%) adverts mentioned generic
names only, 157 (81.8%) mentioned clinical indications. Adults
and children dosage (39.6%), use in special situations such as
pregnancy and renal or liver problems (36.5%), adverse effects
(30.2%), average duration of treatment (26.0%), and potential
for interaction with other drugs (18.7%) were less discussed.
Pharmaceutical information such as available dosage forms and
product and package information {summary of the generic and proprietary
names, the formulation strength, active ingredient, route of administration,
batch number, manufactured and expiry dates, and the manufacturer
on both the container and pack of the drug} were mentioned in
65.6% and 50% adverts, respectively. The product and package descriptions
were provided in 57 (72.2%) Nigerian medical journals, which was
significantly higher than in other African medical journals 39
(37.9%) (P<0.001).
Conclusions: None of the drug advertisements in the journals adequately
provided the basic information required by the WHO for appropriate
prescribing. More guidance and regulation is needed to ensure
adequate information is provided.
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