Advertising is not treated – Newspaper Kommersant No. 16 (7461) dated 01/28/2023
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A draft law banning television and radio advertising of over-the-counter drugs has been resubmitted to the State Duma. It is proposed to leave such advertising only on specialized TV channels and radio programs with the participation of medical and pharmaceutical workers. The authors of the initiative explain the need to take measures to tighten the legislation by the seriously increased scale of self-treatment. The NAFI Analytical Center, at the request of Kommersant, found out that 44% of Russians over the past two years have indeed bought medicines without consulting a doctor, focusing only on advertising. In addition, 61% of Russians would prefer to see fewer advertisements for medicines so that people turn to specialists and not treat themselves. However, a quarter of Russians insist that such advertising, on the contrary, should be more.
The authors of the initiative, including Leonid Slutsky, Yaroslav Nilov, Dmitry Svishchev (all LDPR), propose to contribute amendments to the law “On Advertising”, which restrict the broadcasting of advertisements for over-the-counter drugs to specialized television channels and special radio programs with the participation of medical and pharmaceutical workers. The deputies also want to increase the minimum duration of the broadcast of data on contraindications for over-the-counter drugs – from three to five seconds. “The extremely short duration of such a warning provided for in Part 7 of Article 24 of the Law on Advertising, as well as the area in the frame, do not allow a person, especially an elderly person, to receive information about possible contraindications and the need to consult a specialist,” the explanatory note says.
The authors of the bill explain the need to take measures to tighten advertising legislation by the fact that “intrusive advertising” leads to self-treatment.
“People’s excessive trust in advertising in matters of treatment indicates that the availability and quality of medicine in our country remain at a low level. A person does not have the opportunity to quickly get a qualified answer by contacting his doctor, ”the parliamentarians state.
Commenting on the introduction of the bill to the State Duma in his Telegram channelYaroslav Nilov said that the deputies intend to “put an end to self-treatment based on the recommendations of pseudo-doctors from aggressive commercials in which huge amounts of money are invested.”
At the request of Kommersant, the NAFI Analytical Center conducted an online survey among 2,388 Russians (men and women over 14 years old from all regions of the Russian Federation) as part of the Digit of the Day project.
It turned out that 44% of Russian citizens over the past two years really bought medicines without consulting a doctor, focusing only on advertising.
In addition, 61% of survey participants answered that they would prefer to see less advertisements for drugs, so that people would seek advice from doctors and pharmacists and not be treated themselves. 23% believe that there should be more such advertising, 16% found it difficult to answer.
Natalia Kuznetsova, director of marketing research at NAFI, notes that, according to other studies, the proportion of those who are treated independently for “ordinary” health problems (ARVI, acute respiratory infections, colds, etc.) reaches 60%. “For many reasons – lack of time, desire to make an appointment and visit a doctor – this tactic is still quite widespread,” says Ms. Kuznetsova. , any other services that will allow a person to quickly and easily get expert advice.
“According to GSP research, uncontrolled drug use is mainly characteristic of men – 40% of them prefer not to consult even with relatives. Approximately 27% of women act in the same way. About 60% of citizens follow the recommendations of acquaintances,” says Yan Vlasov, co-chairman of the All-Russian Union of Patients. However, self-treatment, Mr. Vlasov continues, is largely a problem of low trust in doctors, the availability of polyclinic care and narrow specialists: 80% of men cannot find time to go to the clinic – more than 20 minutes is waiting in line for a specialist in the primary medical branch.
While getting medical care is difficult, expensive and time-consuming, self-treatment will not disappear anywhere, Nikolay Bespalov, RNC Pharma Development Director, agrees.
The bill, in his opinion, is a typical attempt to solve a very “complex problem in simple ways”, and it will not work. “But there can be negative consequences from the adoption of such a law. There will be a total redistribution of advertising channels for over-the-counter drugs, and this promises additional costs for pharmaceutical companies, as the opportunity to publish advertising and select sites will be reduced. The price tag for advertising is likely to grow, and this will affect the cost of the drugs themselves,” Nikolai Bespalov is sure.
Yan Vlasov adds that by banning advertising of medicines, which, in addition to a commercial task, often also performs the function of informing the population about the disease and the possibility of treatment, it is necessary to “offer something in return” – other communication channels that will inform people in a timely manner about the possibilities of treatment, the need for timely diagnostics.
It should be noted that in January 2021, the State Duma rejected a bill that also included a ban on advertising medicines on television and radio. The author of the document was LDPR deputy Maxim Zaitsev, who advocated a reduction in mortality from self-medication. His colleagues felt that such changes, on the contrary, would make it more difficult for citizens to receive information about drugs.
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