EVALUATION OF DRUG ADVERTISEMENTS IN A MEDICAL JOURNALThough ideally the scientific information provided by pharmaceutical companies in drug advertisements should be for promotion of rational use of drugs, this objective is rarely achieved, as often the d

Though ideally the scientific information provided by pharmaceutical companies indrug advertisements should be for promotion of rational use of drugs, this objective israrely achieved, as often the data is incomplete and biased. Analytical studies withthe help of standard indicators on this aspect of drug advertisements are very fewfrom developing countries. We analyzed all medical drug advertisements in elevenconsecutive issues of Journal of Nepal Medical Association published between 1993and 1996 with a special emphasis on their conformity with WHO guidelines andInternational Federation of Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Association (IFPMA) codefor drug advertisement.The 78 advertisements in the Journal of Nepal Medical Association constituted 7.7%pages of the eleven issues. Of the 38 products advertised, 30 (79%) were manufacturedoutside Nepal. Antimicrobial agents were the most frequently advertised group ofdrugs (47.4%). While generic name was not mentioned in 16.7% of the advertisements,the information on indications, adverse effects and contra-indications was lacking in37%, 88.4% and 87.1% of the advertisements respectively. Only 11.5% ofadvertisements provided information on generic name, indications, dosage, adverseeffects and contra indications. However, none of the advertisement was "complete"on the basis of the indicators of WHO guidelines and IFPMA codes.Key Words: Medical drug advertisement, drug information, WHO guidelines, IFPMA code.