By: Laura Portillo
The National Directorate of Medicines in 2023 issued a document called Ethical aspects for pharmaceutical advertising, in which it mentions that its scope is to permeate that all advertising/promotional activities directly or indirectly aimed at health professionals and consumers must mention the name of the product, logo, its indications and benefits; It also establishes as advertising activity all those practices carried out through printed, radio, television, drawn, painted, projected or transmitted advertising through the Internet, audio, fixed and mobile; as well as the free distribution of samples. The delivery of the extra product free of charge and immediately for the purchase of a pharmaceutical product is also considered a promotional activity..
Likewise, one of the advertising approaches in the pharmaceutical area is that, when providing information or graphic materials, these must be exact, verifiable, current, rigorously scientific, consistent with the legal and regulatory standards in force in the country, and must avoid any type of ambiguity or exaggeration that exalts the product.
On the other hand, the activities that are not allowed for promotion of pharmaceutical products are:
- Patient/consumer loyalty programs or activities
- Vales
- Bullets
- Gift certificates
- Request personal or clinical information about your diagnosis to create a database to validate any promotion.
In El Salvador, it is necessary to unify and strengthen the advertising and promotional practices that are implemented in the market for the pharmaceutical industry, to strengthen a transparent interaction between health professionals, the general public and the industry.
If you need any advice, you can contact our team of professionals in the Life Sciences-Regulatory Affairs area through the communication channels indicated on our platforms.