Drivers of vulnerability to medicine smuggling and combat strategies: a qualitative study based on online news media analysis in Iran.

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  • Additional Information
    • Source:
      Publisher: BioMed Central Country of Publication: England NLM ID: 101088677 Publication Model: Electronic Cited Medium: Internet ISSN: 1472-6963 (Electronic) Linking ISSN: 14726963 NLM ISO Abbreviation: BMC Health Serv Res Subsets: MEDLINE
    • Publication Information:
      Original Publication: London : BioMed Central, [2001-
    • Subject Terms:
      Mass Media*; Humans ; Commerce ; Iran ; Pharmaceutical Preparations
    • Abstract:
      Background: Medicine smuggling poses a serious public health threat, limiting patients' safe and timely access to this essential resource. Thus, this study aims to identify the factors contributing to the vulnerability to medicine smuggling and propose effective strategies to combat this issue in Iran.
      Methods: An analysis of news media was conducted using qualitative content analysis. News text items related to medicine smuggling were retrieved from various online news sources between March 21, 2017, and May 21, 2023. To select health-oriented and general online news stations, news agencies, and newspapers, the purposeful sampling method with a maximum variation strategy was used. The selected sources included Mehr News Agency, Khabar Online, Islamic Consultative Assembly News Agency (ICANA), Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA), Iranian Students News Agency (ISNA), Hamshahri, Donya-e-Eqtesad newspapers, Webda, Sepid Online, and Iran's Food and Drug Administration News Agency (IFDANA). All data coding was manually done using Microsoft Excel software version 2016.
      Results: A total of 277 news articles were found to meet the established criteria for inclusion. The analysis revealed four main themes, each with several sub-themes, that shed light on the factors that drive vulnerability and the strategies to combat medicine smuggling. These themes are the economic environment, government and stewardship, information technology systems, and socio-cultural factors. The economic environment emerged as the most significant theme, encompassing medicine selection, reimbursement, and procurement, all of which affect the smuggling of pharmaceuticals in Iran.
      Conclusion: To combat medicine smuggling, it is important to adjust policies based on the identified vulnerabilities. Effective strategies to reverse pharmaceutical smuggling include capacity building of pharmaceutical manufacturing companies, implementing regulated and enhanced supervisory and rulemaking policies, strengthening health insurance, improving e-infrastructure, and increasing public awareness through collaborative approaches involving various stakeholders within and outside the health system.
      (© 2024. The Author(s).)
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    • Contributed Indexing:
      Keywords: Combat strategies; Drivers; Iran; Media analysis; Medicine smuggling
    • Accession Number:
      0 (Pharmaceutical Preparations)
    • Publication Date:
      Date Created: 20240328 Date Completed: 20240329 Latest Revision: 20240430
    • Publication Date:
      20240430
    • Accession Number:
      PMC10976728
    • Accession Number:
      10.1186/s12913-024-10805-7
    • Accession Number:
      38539159