One out of every four drugs dispensed in Navarra is a generic drug
The classroom of Pharmacy internship of the University of Navarra analyzes in a roundtable with experts the opportunities and improvements in this sector.
The classroom Pharmacy internship of the University of Navarra, in partnership with Cinfa Laboratories, will hold tomorrow a roundtable to analyze the market for generic drugs, which in Navarra account for 25% of the drugs dispensed.
At meeting, open to healthcare professionals and the general public, six experts will analyze the opportunities and improvements in this sector: Belén Sádaba, physician of the Clinical Pharmacology service of the Clínica Universidad de Navarra; Antonio López, Primary Care pharmacist of the Navarra Health Service-Osasunbidea; Pilar Arroyo, health center physician; Ana Induráin, pharmacist and vice-president of the high school Oficial de Farmacéuticos de Navarra; Ricardo Rodríguez, advisor legal association of Consumers Irache; and Berta Lasheras, director of the department of Pharmacology of the University of Navarra.
According to Antonio López, from the Navarra Health Service-Osasunbidea, "the consumption of generic drugs in Navarra has increased a lot in the last year, thanks to the strategies that have been implemented in all the autonomous communities. However, we are still a long way from average in European countries such as Germany -where they account for 53% of the drugs consumed-, England -with 62%-, or the Netherlands, where 44% of drugs are not branded".
In this regard, the director of classroom Pharmacy internship, Berta Lasheras, recalls that for the consumer, "opting for generics means paying less for a drug with the same efficacy and safety. In fact, young patients who need over-the-counter drugs are increasingly opting for them".
Safe and easy-to-identify packaging
Regarding the most frequent errors in the consumption of generics, Dr. Lasheras explains that, as with other drugs, the brand image on the packaging design can lead to dispensing errors, "so many of them are designing safer packaging to make it easier to identify the product. Likewise, doctors and pharmacists should carry out Education for health, teaching patients to recognize their medicines, know how and what they are used for, etc.".
In addition, the expert adds that some patients continue to take their brand-name drug together with the generic, "a duplication that causes serious problems". In the case of the elderly, the consumption of generics can be slowed down by the difficulty of changing drugs, remembering a new name, etc.: "The elderly can take up to 5 drugs a day; hence the importance of advice from doctors and pharmacists, as well as from schools," concludes the specialist in Pharmacology at the University of Navarra.
The roundtable will be held at 1:30 p.m. at auditorium of Sciences Building. Interested persons can confirm their registration at attendance through aulafarmacia@unav.es and telephone 948 425600 (extension 6327).