A survey of the public willingness to pay for professional pharmaceutical services in the Johannesburg metropolitan area
Date
2014-04-02
Authors
Sonne, Riona
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Abstract
Medicine pricing regulations in South Africa have greatly influenced the manner in which
pharmacy is being practiced. It has motivated community pharmacists to move their focus toward
a more service oriented approach. This has further been facilitated by the introduction of pricing
regulations surrounding the provision of professional pharmaceutical services in a pharmacy, in
accordance with Good Pharmacy Practice guidelines. The combination of the dispensing fee and
professional fee has been viewed as the way forward in maintaining the continued sustainability
of community pharmacies.
This study was undertaken in an effort to determine whether there was a willingness from the
public to pay for the professional services and how valuable would the availability of the services
in a community pharmacy be to them.
The study was designed as a descriptive, cross‐sectional study, targeting only the population
within the Johannesburg metropolitan area. A sample size (n) of 252 was obtained. The results
showed that 72% of the population perceived that the pharmacist added value when dispensing
medicines to them. 57% of respondents chose the pharmacist first for advice on minor ailments,
and 78% were of the opinion that the pharmacist had the ability to provide advice on health
related issues. There was a low willingness to pay for the 6 services posed to the population, in
comparison to their high perceived value.
It was concluded that there is scope for community pharmacist’s to include additional
professional services in their pharmacy settings, which would meet the demands of their
customer base. This could also be seen as an opportunity for government to consider incentivising
the professional pharmaceutical services which could form part of the National Health System.