Quality of pharmaceutical print advertising in South Africa—assessment of reproductive health advertisements 2001–2005

Abstract

Background: Pharmaceutical advertising, in a variety of forms, has been shown to influence prescribing behaviour. Regulatory systems have therefore been concerned with the quality of advertising and compliance with either imposed or self-regulatory codes of practice. Although the South African Medicines Act provides for an enforceable code of practice, the draft version published in 2004 has yet to be put into effect. This study aimed to assess the quality of pharmaceutical advertisements for reproductive health products, published in South African medical publications over the period 2001 to 2005. Compliance with the draft code of practice was considered, as well as the usefulness of the code itself.