Sunday 19 May 2013 by Dominic Esposito
ROME - Health and Wellness, the heading of the masthead, since last year, ran on May 27, has dealt with generic drugs, or equivalents, with the in-depth analysis entitled "Do the same, act in the same way: theme of the campaign on equivalent medicines”, read by 635 internet users. The premise referred to the second communication campaign, promoted by the association of Italian producers in the sector, AssoGenerici, sponsored by the Italian Medicines Agency, with headquarters in via del Tritone nr. 181- 00187 Rome – tel. 065978401, and with the contribution of the associated companies ABC Farmaceutici, Actavis, Almus, Aurobindo Pharma, DOC Generici, EG, Mylan, Pensa Pharma, Dr Reddy's, Sandoz and Teva.
The intervention of the president of AssoGenerici was also appropriate, with the intention of explaining: "Today more than ever, in a moment of great attention from the institutions towards the generic-equivalent drug following the Liberalization Decree, we are happy to be able to contribute information on the sector. We hope that this will speed up the cultural process of diffusion of a new attitude towards generic drugs on the part of health professionals and citizens in the awareness that recourse to the equivalent can represent a fundamental tool for rationalizing Italian pharmaceutical expenditure, advantage of innovation.
The aim of the campaign – he concluded – is to ensure that Italy too reaches the same level of recourse to the equivalent drug that is recorded in the rest of Europe, overcoming cultural barriers that no longer have any reason to exist. Once again this year a big thank you goes to Aifa, the Italian Medicines Agency, which has always been a precious ally in spreading a correct drug culture''.
To quibble, it should be noted that in 1995 the Italian legislator translated the English term "generic" into generic. After a decade, in 2005, the documents adopted the term "equivalent". To the full advantage of clarity and not least of transparency, when one considers that the term "generic", as we read again in a historical note, "suggests the idea of a non-specific drug, with a generic action, which does not correspond to the reality. The term 'equivalent' - on the other hand - refers to the idea of a drug exactly equivalent in quality and quantity - in fact - to the reference drug”.
After another eight years, the term “equal” was added – and the writer has direct and verifiable experience, thanks to the kind availability of a pharmacist with excellent… views. And disclosure is thanks to those print journalists eager to do investigative journalism and not bloggers.
So, one drug is the same
