Dear friends,
I would like to request informations via e-mail.
Thailand is on process of reviewing draft on regulations in putting
generic names equivalent alongside the trade names of drugs in labelling
and in advertising (radio,tv). The issue is that the rules for
putting generic names for drug w/ compound ingredients is being dropped
because of the belief that no countries are doing or had done this.
So, in this case may I request for infos. on countries with
laws/regulations on generic labelling/ads. on compound drugs. Thank you!
You may find it interesting and useful to look at the
Zimbabwe's experience in 1991-1992, when a generic labelling
clause was included in a revision of the drug regulations.
The final outcome was a clause which allowed for a
proprietary name and generic name (British Approved Name)
on product labels, in equal prominence, if I am not
mistaken. The person who will best remember the process of
negotiation (and some of the compromises made) is the
Director of Pharmaceutical Services in the Mintry of
Health and Child Welfare, Aidan Chidarikire. The person
who you may want to contact for expediency is Birna Trap,
his counterpart and the project coordinator for the
Zimbabwe Essential Drugs Action Programme (ZEDAP). She may
be able to also obtain the relevant documents from the
Drugs Control Council (the regulatory authority) and
other informative documents from the 'archives' of the ZEDAP
files. Her e-mail contact is trap@healthnet.zw
I lived in Zimbabwe for many years and worked in ZEDAP
until 1993. I hope this is helpful.
Regards,
Hanif Nazerali
Dept of International Health and Development
Tulane University School of Public Health and
Tropical Medicine, New Orleans, USA.
I don't know the regulation details, but drug containers and
prescriptions are required to list the generic name in Canada.
Prescription labels
have the generic name most prominent with the trade name lower down in
smaller print. Advertising is different. I don't believe that generic
names are required; however in Canada there is supposed to be no
direct-to-consumer advertising for prescription drugs anyway. The
companies have found various ways of getting around this ruling, so that
I believe it is currently under review...