Analysis of legal regulation and modern applied aspects of social advertising in healthcare

Aim. To determine the features of normative and legal regulation of social advertising, as well as to clarify the specificity of the content, forms, and methods of social advertising placement in the healthcare (HC) sector in Ukraine at the present stage. Materials and methods. Normative legal acts of Ukraine, scientific works, specific creative products of social advertising, the content of which reflects the thematic direction of HC. Results. Scientific and legislative approaches to determining the purpose and functions of social advertising have been analyzed, and its essential characteristics have been studied. It has been determined that social advertising in the field of HC relates to non-commercial communication and, according to the method of placement, it refers to direct advertising. Based on the analysis of specific examples of social advertising in the field of HC, the specificity of its content, forms, and methods of placement have been clarified. It has been proven that by content, social advertising in the field of HC can contain socially useful information aimed at promoting a healthy lifestyle (raising awareness of the harm of smoking, drug use, and sedentary lifestyle); vaccination; donation; timely visits to healthcare institutions; an inclusive society (tolerant attitudes towards persons with disabilities and other mobility-impaired groups of the population, towards people suffering from tuberculosis, HIV, etc.); changes in the HC system (e-prescription, new packages of medical guarantee programs for the population, the state program ”Affordable Medicines”, etc.); volunteer activities. Conclusions. The classification of social advertising has been proposed, taking into account the requirements of legislation and scientific and practical approaches. It is emphasized that social advertising is subject to all general permissive norms regarding the methods, forms and places of distribution, as well as prohibitions on discriminatory, hidden, illegal comparative and unfair advertising. The study of legal and organizational aspects of non-commercial communication in the field of HC and improvement of legislation on drug advertising, as well as the study of factors that will affect the effectiveness of social advertising, is a promising area for further research.