Effectiveness of the Interventions for Reducing Illegal Advertising of Health Products among Local Radio Stations

Abstract

Objective: To test two measures for reducing the broadcasting of illegal advertising of health products among local radios i.e., 1) workshop for radio entrepreneurs and radio hosts and 2) authority visit to discuss with the entrepreneurs and radio hosts on their illegal advertising practice and asking for legal compliance. Method: There were 2 phases of the study. The first tested the effects of the workshop using a quasi-experimental design. The study group consisted of 7 radio stations whose representative(s) attended the workshop organized by the researchers and were identified by a previous study as the stations with illegal advertising. Theory of Planned Behaviors was a framework for developing the workshop in order to provide the attendants with information on legal requirements for advertising of health products and to motivate them to follow the law. The control group was another 7 stations with no representatives attending the workshop and also identified by the previous study as the stations with illegal advertising. The study and control groups were matched according to their geographical location. The researchers assessed the knowledge and skill related to legal advertising of health products before and immediately after the workshop, and also measured the rate of illegal advertising in each station one month after the workshop. The second part of the study was a pre-test and post-test design.  The subjects were 11 radio stations (both control and study groups) with illegal advertising at the end of phase 1 study. The researcher, as an authority, visited the radio stations to discuss with the entrepreneurs and radio hosts on their illegal practice and asking for legal compliance. The broadcasting rate of illegal advertising was determined again one month later. Results: In the first phase of the study, the workshop attendants had a significantly increased knowledge on general legal requirement on health product advertising and legal classification of health products (P=0.002), legal requirement for advertising of drugs (P=0.002), and medical devices (P=0.038). However, broadcasting rate of illegal advertising, calculated from the unique pieces of the ads, increased by 8.31+32.51% and 16.25+43.82% after intervention in the control and study groups, respectively. There was no statistically significant difference between groups (P=0.592).  In the second phase of the study, the number of the unique pieces of illegal advertising for all health products reduced by 21.87+30.77% (P=0.038) after the authority visit. Conclusion: The workshop as designed in the study increases the relevant knowledge among the attendants, but could not reduce the illegal broadcasting of health products advertising. The authority visit of the radio stations with illegal advertising is far more effective. Official visit with appropriate legal measure is more likely to reduce the problems of illegal advertising of health products.