Doctors taking bribes from pharmaceutical companies is common and not substantially reduced by an educational intervention: a pragmatic randomised controlled trial in Pakistan
This first study to covertly assess deal-making between doctors and pharmaceutical company representatives demonstrated that the practice is strikingly widespread in the study setting and suggested that substantial reductions are unlikely to be achieved by educational interventions alone. Our novel method provides an opportunity to generate evidence on deal-making between doctors and pharmaceutical companies elsewhere.
Authors
- Iqbal Azam (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0766-4064)
- Charles Opondo (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8155-4117)
- Muhammad Naveed Noor (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7847-6637)
- Sadia Shakoor (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1301-5239)
- Nina van der Mark (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0005-7976-7638)
- Wafa Aftab (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5040-5215)
- Sabeen Sharif Khan
- Zafar Mirza (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9159-8869)
- Sameen Siddiqi (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8289-0964)
- S A Kazmi (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0000-6116-1025)
- Afshan Khurshid Isani
- Johanna Hanefeld (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9487-2333)
- Allauddin Siddiqi (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5528-9153)
- Afifah Rahman-Shepherd (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8845-9275)
- Natasha Ali (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4990-330X)
- Faisal Ziauddin
- Virginia Wiseman (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7911-0741)
- Mishal Khan (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8967-1761)
- Robyna Irshad Khan
- Faiza Bhutto
- Rumina Hasan (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6707-2231)
- Amna Rehana Siddiqui
- Zainab Hasan
Institutions
- Aga Khan University (PK)
- Shifa Tameer-e-Millat University (PK)
- Government of Pakistan (PK)
- Jinnah Sindh Medical University (PK)
- Higher Education Commission (PK)
- UNSW Sydney (AU)
- University of Oxford (GB)
- London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine (GB)
- Faculty of Public Health (GB)
- University of Bergen (NO)
- University of Manitoba (CA)
- Ziauddin University (PK)
Publication Details
- Journal
- BMJ Global Health
- Published
- 2024-12-01
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjgh-2024-016055
- Citations
- 2
- Primary Topic
- Pharmaceutical industry and healthcare
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.93
Funders
- Medical Research Council