Interactions between patent medicine vendors and customers in urban and rural Nigeria
Interactions between patent medicine vendors and customers in urban and rural Nigeria
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DOI：
10.1093/heapol/czh021
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发表时间：
2004-05-01
影响因子：
3.2
通讯作者：
Otusanya, SA
中科院分区：
文献类型：
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作者：
Brieger, WR;Osamor, PE;Otusanya, SA
非洲国家公众用于治疗疾病的大部分药物都是由专利药品供应商 (PMV) 提供的。关于 PMV 与其客户之间实际发生的情况的报道很少，但尽管如此，人们仍然担心其地位可能被滥用。这项研究对尼日利亚奥约州伊巴丹大都市和伊博奥拉乡村小镇的 444 家药店进行了 720 次 PMV 与顾客互动的观察。每次互动平均持续2分钟。四分之一的顾客向店员讲述了他们的疾病问题，9% 的顾客出示了处方，大多数顾客只是要求购买物品。大多数顾客（73%）是为自己购买毒品，其余的则被派去为他人购买。前者更可能是成年人，而后者更常见的是儿童和青少年。最常见的 PMV 行为是：销售所要求的药物（69%）、向顾客提出自己的建议（30%）、询问有关疾病的问题（19%）以及提供如何服用药物的说明（21%）。仅观察到三起转介。大量的特定药品请求证明了公众积极参与自我保健，因此 PMV 的主要作用似乎是满足这一需求的销售人员。当顾客实际抱怨他/她的疾病时，第二个角色就变得明显了，这种做法与更积极的 PMV 相关，他们提出问题、提出建议并提供信息。这些 PMV 的作用可以通过消费者教育、PMV 培训和政策改变来增强，以标准化 PMV 对初级卫生保健的贡献并使之合法化。
Patent medicine vendors (PMVs) supply a large portion of the drugs used by the public in African countries to treat their illnesses. Little has been reported about what actually transpires between PMVs and their customers, but nevertheless, concerns have been raised about the potential for abuse of their position. This study conducted 720 observations of PMV-customer interaction in 444 medicine shops in both the metropolis of Ibadan and the rural town of Igbo-Ora in Oyo State, Nigeria. Each interaction lasted 2 minutes on average. A quarter of the customers shared their illness problems with the shop attendant, 9% presented a prescription and the majority simply requested items for purchase. Most customers (73%) were buying drugs for themselves, while the remainder had been sent to purchase for another person. The former were more likely to be adults, while the latter were more often children and adolescents. The most common PMV behaviours are: selling the requested medicine (69%), giving their own suggestions to the customer (30%), asking questions about the illness (19%) and providing instructions on how to take the medicine (21%). Only three referrals were observed. The large number of specific drug requests was evidence of a public that was actively involved in self-care, and thus the major role of the PMV appeared to be one of salesperson meeting that need. A second role became evident when the customer actually complained about his/her illness, a practice associated with the more active PMVs who asked questions, gave suggestions and provided information. These PMV roles can be enhanced through consumer education, PMV training and policy changes to standardize and legitimize PMV contributions to primary health care.