Pharmaceutical Marketing and Distribution in Developing Countries

Abstract

Pharmaceutical are the only one element of a health care system, however, in most developing countries they play a very important role in health care because often the largest share of health budget is spent in pharmaceuticals. This is in itself but what is even worse is the fact that not all drugs used are rational. One has to consider carefully which drug to choose because a lot of irrational drugs are in the market and some of them can do more harm than good, financial resources are limited in developing countries, so it is vital for the protection of individual and public interest that the health care provided is effective. In developing countries, pharmaceutical production is often limited and concerns relate primarily to the adequacy of imported drug. The private sector of drug distribution generally limits itself to the supply of expensive drug for relatively affluent urban populations and the public sector drug procurement is often inefficient and wasteful. There is much concern as to the unreliability of drug information and the poor quality of medicines circulating in both the public and private sectors even middle-income developing countries exhibit similar problems alongside manufacturer of the highest repute are makers of counterfeit drug for both the home and export market, regulatory systems, while loosely based on the ‘western model’ loopholes of pharmaceutical policies. The developments of massive public involvement in the contest of the pharmaceutical sector even in countries with the most ‘liberals’ of economics has not gone unchallenged. The research based pharmaceutical industry in particular while fully accepting the need for the maintenance of the highest standard argues that the bulk of the industry should be fully capable of disciplining itself without extensive state interference, more specifically it is pointed to the risks of shackling what is essentially a healthy and productive industry.