Comparative Study of Perception and Awareness About Generic vs Branded Medicines in Rural and Urban Areas of Kolhapur

Abstract

Typically, pharmaceutical companies create two different drugs from a single ingredient. One product, known as branded medicine, is heavily advertised and supported by doctors, retailers, and chemists. Another option, known as generic medicine, is not advertised or promoted.. So the Government of India is taking lot of steps to promote the availability of generic medicines both in rural and urban areas and also taking steps to aware people that it is equally safe and effective as that of branded medicines. The survey is about perception towards generic medicines and branded medicines and current scenario of branded and generic medications in rural and urban areas of Kolhapur. This study was conducted to find out the different factors that could influence the use of generic and branded medicines among people from rural and urban areas of Kolhapur. The study was carried out among 100 people from rural areas and 100 from urban areas of Kolhapur. From the above survey it is found that Branded medicines from each category were widely used in Rural and Urban areas of Kolhapur compare to the Generic medicines. People found less aware about the difference between the Generic and branded medicines in Rural area than the Urban area.