The Royal New Zealand College of General Practitioners

Background

Pharmaceutical Marketing Activities (PMA) may be defined as activities, the purpose of which is to induce the prescribing, sale, supply or consumption of products manufactured by a pharmaceutical company. Examples of these activities include visits by sales representatives and advertisements for prescription medicines in medical journals.

Pharmaceutical Marketing Activities are regulated in Ireland and New Zealand by Codes of Marketing Practice which are administered by industry bodies themselves (i.e. self-regulation). These Codes reflect the requirements of legislation.

The impact of Pharmaceutical Marketing Activities on healthcare professionals and especially on prescribing patterns has been debated extensively. General Practitioners constitute a large target group for pharmaceutical companies. As prescribers of a large number of prescription medicines to a large cohort of patients in primary care, it may be expected that GPs are exposed to a significant number of Pharmaceutical Marketing Activities.

There is little data on how GPs in Ireland and New Zealand perceive Pharmaceutical Marketing Activities, both in terms of its usefulness and its impact on their prescribing patterns. There is no data on the level of awareness among GPs in both countries regarding the Code of Marketing Practice and legislation that regulate Pharmaceutical Marketing Activities. Finally, there is little data on the attitudes of GPs in both countries to the interaction of the pharmaceutical industry directly with patients.

The questionnaire should take approximately 10 minutes to complete. Your participation would be greatly appreciated.