The New Zealand Medical Association welcomes the latest Consumer New Zealand Report that shows the majority of New Zealanders want advertisements for prescription medicines to be banned.

“NZMA has long advocated for this, as you can read in our position statement of 2018 and has three key recommendations for the Government,“ says Dr Kate Baddock Chair of the NZMA.

1. The Government should ban DTCA of prescription medicines, and, once this form of pharmaceutical industry marketing has been discontinued, ensure that it is not reintroduced.

2. The Government should support cross-sectoral approaches towards improving health literacy that help ensure patients and doctors make better informed decisions about treatment options.

3. The Government should support initiatives that increase the provision of independent, accurate and accessible sources of health information, including about prescription medicines.”

“NZMA is very encouraged by the work of Consumer NZ and the awareness of the New Zealand public that these types of ads do not provide them with good health information - the medical profession has been concerned about the impact of this on consumers for some time.”

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