The Middle East and Africa Code of Promotional Practices in the Pharmaceutical Industry
Date
2018-09-10
Authors
Salhout, Sand
Bechter, Clemens
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
MDPI
Abstract
The pharmaceutical industry is known for investing heavily in promotions targeted at
healthcare professionals (HCPs). Governments around the world try to regulate unwanted promotional
practices in different ways. Where binding laws are in place in the U.S.A., European governments favor
self-regulation. The purpose of this research is the evaluation of the Middle East and Africa Code of
Promotional Practices (MEACPP) as a preliminary draft and its implications. Our paper fills a research
gap by looking into the perceptions of the parties involved, analyzing their interests, and predicting
possible outcomes. We used a mixed-method approach. Interviews were conducted with pharmaceutical
companies and associations; while a questionnaire was administered to HCPs. Our findings suggest that
all parties are in favor of more transparency. However, when it comes to disclosing the received financial
support, the HCPs are hesitant. An estimated 20% would be willing to fully disclose their received
benefits, which is in line with their European colleagues. Multinational pharmaceutical companies
follow their own in-house standards and fear being at a competitive disadvantage when local companies
can promote their drugs without any strings attached. MEA pharmaceutical companies do not see
the potential benefits of analyzing the publicly available data to identify key opinion leaders (KOLs).
The limitation of our research is the fact that the MEACPP has not been implemented yet and survey
results are therefore based on expectations rather than real events.
Description
Keywords
Middle East and Africa Code of Promotional Practices , pharmaceutical industry , transparency code , self-regulation
Citation
TY - JOUR AU - Salhout, Sand AU - Bechter, Clemens PY - 2018/09/10 SP - 53 T1 - The Middle East and Africa Code of Promotional Practices in the Pharmaceutical Industry VL - 8 DO - 10.3390/admsci8030053 JO - Administrative Sciences ER -