Acceptability of generic drugs among students of a pharmacy course in the North of Minas Gerais

Abstract

The law 9,787/99 came to mark and spread generic medicine as identical to the reference and with better accessibility to users. For that, they must submit     bioequivalence and bioavailability tests to become interchangeable with those of reference. This research has as general objective to analyze the acceptability of generic drugs in pharmacy course students at Santo Agostinho College - MG, as well as to analyze possible reasons that interfere in the adherence or acceptance of students in the treatment with generic drugs. The methodology used has a quantitative descriptive character, where a questionnaire was applied for data collection. Most of the students interviewed claimed to know the Generics Law, and approximately 95% of them know the difference between reference and generic drugs, and 98.68% have already used generic drugs. Overall, the acceptability of generic drugs by students who were willing to answer the questionnaire is high; they believe in the effectiveness of medications and accept the suggestion of pharmacists when they indicate the generic drug instead of the prescribed reference. It is thus concluded that, although relatively recent, generic drugs are already more used and accepted by society, mainly for their more affordable price, facilitating adherence to treatments that require the use of drugs for longer periods. The guidance and clarification offered by pharmacists is also an important factor in this reality, highlighting the importance of the pharmacist in promoting health in society.