Abstract:

Background: International policy towards access to essential medicines in Africa has focused until recently on international procurement of large volumes of medicines. In Africa many of developing import almost all of the pharmaceuticals supplies from abroad, mainly from Indian manufactures. This emphasis is now being challenged by renewed policy interest in the potential benefits of local pharmaceutical production and supply. However, many of the countries prefer to use imported supplies than the local ones, there is a shortage of evidence on the role of locally produced medicines in Africa markets, and on potential benefits of local production for access to medicines. Imported medicines are foreign medicines bought by citizens, businesses, and from other countries.

Methodology: The study was a descriptive cross-sectional study that involved clients attending local pharmacies in Nyamagana district in Mwanza from 22nd June to 5th July 2020. Convenient random sampling was used, whereby about 372 clients attending local pharmacies during the time of the study were interviewed using a semi structured Swahili questionnaire, and data were collected and analyzed by using STATA version 13. The goal of this study was to determine the attitude and use of imported medicines in the community.

Results: A total of 372 clients were enrolled in this study, 218 (58.60%) were males and 154 (41.40%) were females of age above 18 years. Most had ages ranging from 18-30 (50.81%) and from 31-45 (39.52%). Out of 372 participants, 67.28% preferred to use imported medicines.

Conclusion: Generally, the overall attitude towards to use imported medicines among the clients attending local pharmacies in Nyamagana district was moderate (42.47%, n=158) to low (32.80%, n=122).