@article{Balasopoulos2017-rx,
title = {Why do generic drugs fail to achieve an adequate market share in Greece? Empirical findings and policy suggestions},
author = {T Balasopoulos and A Charonis and Kostas Athanasakis and John Kyriopoulos and Elpida Pavi},
year = {2017},
date = {2017-01-01},
urldate = {2017-01-01},
journal = {Health Policy},
volume = {121},
number = {3},
pages = {265--272},
address = {Ireland},
abstract = {OBJECTIVES: Since 2010, the memoranda of understanding were
implemented in Greece as a measure of fiscal adjustment. Public
pharmaceutical expenditure was one of the main focuses of this
implementation. Numerous policies, targeted on pharma spending,
reduced the pharmaceutical budget by 60.5%. Yet, generics'
penetration in Greece remained among the lowest among OECD
countries. This study aims to highlight the factors that affect
the perceptions of the population on generic drugs and to suggest
effective policy measures. METHODOLOGY: The empirical analysis is
based on a national cross-sectional survey that was conducted
through a sample of 2003 individuals, representative of the
general population. Two ordinal logistic regression models were
constructed in order to identify the determinants that affect the
respondents' beliefs on the safety and the effectiveness of
generic drugs. FINDINGS: The empirical findings presented a
positive and statistically significant correlation with income,
bill payment difficulties, safety and effectiveness of drugs,
prescription and dispensing preferences and the views toward
pharmaceutical companies. Also, age and trust toward medical
community have a positive and statistically significant
correlation with the perception on the safety of generic drugs.
Policy interventions are suggested on the bases of the empirical
results on 3 major categories; (a) information campaigns, (b)
incentives to doctors and pharmacists and (c) to strengthen the
bioequivalence control framework and the dissemination of
results.},
keywords = {Drugs; Generic; Health policy; Pharmaceutical policy},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {article}
}
OBJECTIVES: Since 2010, the memoranda of understanding were
implemented in Greece as a measure of fiscal adjustment. Public
pharmaceutical expenditure was one of the main focuses of this
implementation. Numerous policies, targeted on pharma spending,
reduced the pharmaceutical budget by 60.5%. Yet, generics'
penetration in Greece remained among the lowest among OECD
countries. This study aims to highlight the factors that affect
the perceptions of the population on generic drugs and to suggest
effective policy measures. METHODOLOGY: The empirical analysis is
based on a national cross-sectional survey that was conducted
through a sample of 2003 individuals, representative of the
general population. Two ordinal logistic regression models were
constructed in order to identify the determinants that affect the
respondents' beliefs on the safety and the effectiveness of
generic drugs. FINDINGS: The empirical findings presented a
positive and statistically significant correlation with income,
bill payment difficulties, safety and effectiveness of drugs,
prescription and dispensing preferences and the views toward
pharmaceutical companies. Also, age and trust toward medical
community have a positive and statistically significant
correlation with the perception on the safety of generic drugs.
Policy interventions are suggested on the bases of the empirical
results on 3 major categories; (a) information campaigns, (b)
incentives to doctors and pharmacists and (c) to strengthen the
bioequivalence control framework and the dissemination of
results.