Problems on regulation of radio commercial of food and drugs by regional government officials

Abstract

Introduction: Illegal  radio  commercials  of  food  and  drugs  (F&D) have  long  been  a serious  problem  in  Thailand.  Even  with  the  strictly control  by  the  government,  such  illegal commercial  can  be  commonly  detected.  We  had  conducted  this  research  to  investigate  how  the regional government officials deal with such unlawful F&D commercialization, i.e. what would impede such  regulation. Methods: This  qualitative  research  collected  data  by  in-depth  interview  with  14 pharmacists  working  at  Provincial  Public  Health  Offices  and  Community  Hospitals.  Data  were analyzed  by  content  analysis. Results: The  processes  for  regulation  of  illegal  F&D  radio commercials consist  of:1)  controlling  and  collaborative  measures  with  the  traders  and  entrepreneurs;  2) monitoring and deterrence measures; 3) law enforcement measures; and 4) collaborative measures with  the  whole  network.  Operation  of  these  processes  varies  from  province  to  province.  The  law enforcement  measures  will  be  applied  when  other  processes  become   ineffective   or  when  the complaint was failed. Problems affecting the operational efficiency are: 1) working environment such as  1.1)  holistic  management,1.2)  collaboration  with the  National  Broadcasting  and  Telecommunications Commission, 1.3) policies of the provincial executives, 1.4) operation of other province’s Office of the Provincial Health, 1.5) traders and entrepreneurs, 1.6) budget and equipment, 1.7) limitation of the district official and 1.8) consumer knowledge; 2) internal factors of the government officials such as 2.1)  lack  of  skills,  2.2)  lack  of  problem  awareness,  2.3)  judgement  and  implementation  of  the processes,  2.4)  burden/workload,  2.5)  consequence  of  the  operation;  3)  limitation  on  legal  issues such as 3.1) inconsistence of law-enforcement units, 3.2) gap in law, 3.3) legal authorities and 3.4) unfavorable  law  enforcement. Conclusion: This  research  portrays  that  the  officers  must  take several  measures  to  regulate  unlawful  radio  F&D  commercializations,  which  have  problems  and difficulties in management. All related parties can realize more to the present problem and use this data as a check list to find the appropriate solutions for better efficiency of problem solving.