Global public health square: opportunities and challenges

Citation

Mukherjee, A. (2012), "Global public health square: opportunities and challenges", International Journal of Pharmaceutical and Healthcare Marketing, Vol. 6 No. 2. https://doi.org/10.1108/ijphm.2012.32406baa.001

Global public health square: opportunities and challenges

Article Type: Editorial From: International Journal of Pharmaceutical and Heathcare Marketing, Volume 6, Issue 2

The global public health square is a forum for international comparisons, open discussions and transfer of best practices between healthcare systems of different countries across the globe. Global health poses several grand challenges. These challenges differ for different parts of the world. For example, in the developing world, healthcare challenges revolve on creating effective single dose vaccines that can be used soon after birth or those that do not require refrigeration; on managing communicable as well as non-communicable diseases that increase the risks of neonatal deaths as well as maternal deaths; on creating an efficient pharmacy network with trained pharmacists who can prescribe, influence, switch, and dispense pharmaceutical drugs in the absence of physicians; on managing the cost of pharmaceutical products through generics and private labels; on creating and measuring perceived value for hospital services; etc. On the other hand, the developed world faces challenges such as enabling healthcare system reforms; consumer reactions to the conduct of “Big Pharma”; private versus public healthcare systems; healthcare IT, etc. Discussing these challenges in different countries around the world is precisely the mission of this special issue on “Global public health square: opportunities and challenges”.

We have five very interesting and diverse papers in this special issue, focusing on five different countries. The five countries are as diverse as they can be: from Germany to China, India, Egypt and Iran. The healthcare challenge discussed in each paper is also unique: patient reactions in Germany to private label drugs in China; the pharmacist’s role in Egypt to gestational diabetes mellitus in Iran, and perceived value of hospital services in India.

The first article by Jörg Lindenmeier, Dieter K. Tscheulin, and Florian Drevs is titled “The effects of unethical conduct of pharmaceutical companies on consumer behavior: empirical evidence from Germany”. This study investigates how unethical corporate behavior of pharmaceutical companies affects consumer behavior of German consumers, especially boycotts of over-the-counter drugs. Borrowing from psychological theory as well as consumer behavior theory, this study develops a conceptual model that considers affective and cognitive determinants of boycotting behavior. Within the scope of the German pharmaceutical sector, the researchers conducted a survey to validate the research hypotheses using moderated regression analysis. The findings of the study show that individuals’ inclination to join boycotts and engage in boycott communication results from anger about animal testing, perceived immorality of pharmaceutical companies’ corporate behavior and negative corporate image of pharmaceutical companies. An empirical analysis reveals significant moderation effects. The findings of the study are important because these results can help pharmaceutical companies developing communication responses to accusations of unethical corporate behavior. Furthermore, this study offers new insights on the effects of unethical corporate behavior on consumers, which may be useful to the crisis-prone pharmaceutical sector.

The second article by Zhiliang Zhou, Yajiong Xue, and Qineng Ping is “Private label drugs in China: the consumer perspective”. In this article, the authors attempt to investigate how Chinese consumers’ purchase intention of private label drugs is associated with price advantage, appearance, store trust, manufacturer trust, and drug quality. A survey study was conducted in two large cities in China. Subjects were asked to decide whether they would purchase a private label drug over a national brand drug and to evaluate a set of related factors. Data were collected from 230 consumers. The findings of the study showed that a total of 45 percent of the variance in private label drug purchase intention is explained by the five predictors. Price advantage, store trust, manufacturer trust, and drug quality are all significantly related to purchase intention, whereas appearance is not. None of the control variables (age, gender, health literacy, and income) has a significant relationship with purchase intention. Product quality and service quality are significant predictors of store trust, accounting for 44 percent of its variance. The private label drug market has great potential in China, yet little is known what factors influence Chinese consumers’ intention to purchase private label drugs. This research is one of the first attempts to achieve an in-depth understanding in this area. The findings of this research will benefit drug retailers and manufacturers who are interested in the Chinese market.

The third article in this issue is a research paper by Ahmed Taher, Elnora W. Stuart, and Ibrahim Hegazy with a title “The pharmacist’s role in the Egyptian pharmaceutical market”. Pharmaceutical companies’ marketing strategies have traditionally targeted only physicians and, more recently, consumers. The purpose of this paper is to explore the role of the pharmacist as prescriber, influencer, switcher, and dispenser of pharmaceutical drugs in one developing country, Egypt. For this study, the authors surveyed pharmacists in Cairo, Egypt. They asked the pharmacists:

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  to estimate the percentages of patients who came in with a prescription, with only a box or a recommendation for a medicine and with only symptoms; and

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  whether s/he switched the patient to another medicine.

Pharmacies were classified as to the social class of the pharmacy neighborhoods.

Cluster analysis was used by the authors to further classify pharmacists as “Influencers” and “Non-Influencers.” The findings of the study showed that overall the pharmacists influence 39 percent of all purchase decisions for pharmaceuticals with higher levels of influence in lower social class neighborhoods. Approximately one out of four pharmacists was classified as an Influencer. This finding has a practical implication because in developing countries, the pharmacist plays a key role in which medicines patients ultimately purchase. Marketing activities directed toward the pharmacist may provide an important opportunity to maximize the pharmaceutical firms’ return on marketing investment. Few studies have looked at the marketing of pharmaceutical drugs in developing countries. This paper is unique in that it examines the role of the pharmacist in these markets, thus providing an important addition to our understanding of the challenges to the industry in these countries and important implications pharmaceutical marketing strategies.

The fourth article by Seyed Mohammad Alavinia, Koorosh Etemad, Alireza Mahdavi, Maryam Omidvar, Sara Imanpour, Rudmilla Rahman, Muhiuddin Haider, and Jared Frank is “Gestational diabetes mellitus in Iran – experience from the National Diabetes Program”. In this research paper, the authors examine the non-communicable disease (NCD) known as Gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM). Specifically, this paper examines the influence of NCDs on health outcomes both worldwide and throughout the Islamic Republic of Iran, discuss the current issues surrounding GDM and its impact on pregnant women and their children, and present a new multi-faceted approach for preventing future occurrences of GDM. In their research paper, the authors examine the current issues surrounding NCDs and GDM, in terms of its prevalence and risk factors, and the efforts taken by the Iranian government to address the growing problem of GDM, through a comprehensive literature review. Further, they present the basis for a new multi-faceted approach for addressing and preventing GDM. Gestational diabetes mellitus is a non-communicable disease that can damage the health of both mothers and children. The disease has been linked to macrosomia, congenital cardiac and central nervous system abnormalities, and skeletal muscle deformities among neonates. Pregnant women who develop GDM are more likely to have induced labor, require caesarean section, and develop type 2 diabetes later in life. In the most severe cases, GDM can even result in fatal and maternal mortality. Worldwide prevalence of GDM varies by country, but Iranian women are a particularly high-risk population. In fact, approximately one out of every 20 pregnancies in Iran will be affected by complications and outcomes related to GDM. In response to growing concerns surrounding the current prevalence of GDM both worldwide and within the Islamic Republic of Iran, along with the associated impact of GDM on health outcomes, this paper presents a multi-faceted approach for addressing this NCD going forward. This approach will involve a consolidated program of prevention and control with a focus on health-care solutions which promote both awareness and education.

The last article of this issue by Hardeep Chahal and Neetu Kumari is “Consumer perceived value: the development of a multiple item scale in hospitals in Indian context”. The authors’ aim of the study is to analyze the dimensionality of consumer perceived value (CPV) concept, development of CPV scale and its measurement in the Indian healthcare sector. The data on consumer perceived value is gathered from 515 inpatients. The scale development is performed through exploratory factor analysis, reliability and validity analysis, and confirmatory analysis. The results of the study show that CPV scale in healthcare sector is a multidimensional scale represented by 27 items spread over six dimensions that are significant for consumer value measurement. The dimensions include acquisition value (AV), transaction value (TV), efficiency value (EV), aesthetic value (ESV), social interaction value (SI) and self gratification value (SG). The study was theoretically limited to value and its antecedents. Research work on relationship of consumer perceived value with service quality, customer relationship management, internal marketing orientation, external marketing orientation and financial performance need to be pursued further for richer insight into the inter – related service marketing concepts. The study is limited to indoor patients only and the perceptions of employees and other stakeholders are important to understand their overall affect on CPV. Although these aforementioned limitations exist, the study has unique value addition to the healthcare literature, both from theoretical and managerial perspectives. The study came out with standardized scale of consumer perceived value which can be used in both public and private healthcare sectors. It incorporates valuation of functional and affective aspects, and provides overall quantification of the value perceived by the Indian healthcare consumers.

Health provision varies around the world. Health provision is challenging due to the costs required as well as various social, cultural, political and economic conditions. There is no one answer to health care provision, but a number of systems and issues seem to be emerging. This special issue sheds some light on these different systems and issues in different countries, which might help healthcare planners and donors to focus their attention on the right challenges of the day.

Avinandan Mukherjee