Direct-to-consumer advertising: trends of Malay printed media advertising of herbal medicines in Malaysia / Siti Nurul Ashikin Baharuddin

Background: The usage of herbal and traditional medicine products gain enormous popularity all around the world, including in Malaysia.Consequently, with the increase of popularity of the usage of herbal and traditional medicines, substantial public health issues have been increasing as well. Objective: To determine the trends of Malay printed media advertisement of herbal medicines and to explore the adherence of printed advertisement of herbal medicines towards Medicine Advertisement Board (MAB) and Drugs Registration Guidance Document (DRGD). Method: The data for advertised herbal medicine products were collected from 1 s" May until l 61h June (30 days) from two types of Malay printed media; magazines and newspapers. The descriptive analysis were analysed by using Microsoft Excel software version 2010. Result: A total of 10 advertised herbal medicine products in each magazines and newspapers containing prohibited claim indications. The percentage of adherence of magazines and newspapers were 81.8 % and 80.4% respectively. Conclusion: Not all herbal medicine products advertisements were adhered to the Malaysian Advertisement Board (MAB) and Drug Registration Guidance Documents (DRGD). A total of 81.8 % and 80.4% of herbal medicine product advertising from magazines and newspapers respectively adhere to the standard advertising guidelines.