Malaga pharmacists launch campaign to dispel mistrust and promote broader use of generic medicines
They are "bioequivalent, with the same efficacy and safety, and contain the same proportion of active ingredients" says the president of the pharmaceutical college in the province, Francisco Criado
Malaga province's college of pharmacists is preparing a campaign to inform people that the use of generic medicines is just as safe and beneficial to their health as brand-name medicines. The message will be spread through social media and posters in pharmacies.
Head of Malaga pharmacists Francisco Criado told SUR that there is widespread mistrust when it comes to generic medicines. Challenging that mistrust is the aim of the campaign, as "people often believe that the brand is better than the generic, when, actually, the generic is the same as a brand name". The two types are "bioequivalent", meaning that they contain the same amount of active ingredient, making them equally safe and beneficial.
They have the same effect
The laboratory behind the creation of a specific medicine has a ten-year exclusive patent when it brings it to the market. After this period ends, "other laboratories can manufacture it, but it is the same drug", at exactly the same price, as established by the government.
Of course, the container or the image may vary and this sometimes generates mistrust in the patient. For this reason, Francisco Criado says that their job as pharmacists is to "create peace of mind" and give reassurance to the patient.
The campaign will focus mainly on the Malaga college of pharmacists' social media channels. It will be supported by posters in the 681 pharmacies in the province. The slogan of the advertising campaign is: "Trust in your generic medicines." "In Andalucía, prescription by active ingredient is very high," Criado says. "If you comply with the patent, the doctor prescribes by active ingredient and pharmacists can dispense either the brand or the generic medicine."
Sometimes the composition prescribed by the doctor only comes under one brand name and this is what is dispensed to the patient, as sometimes there is no generic medicine. Criado states that mistrust can also be generated when a patient is given a branded box rather than the generic medicine. "In the end, the important thing is the composition," the head of Malaga pharmacists says.
