Current Issue : July - September Volume : 2011 Issue Number : 3 Articles : 6 Articles
Although an important source of treatment for fevers, little is known about the structure of the retail sector in Africa with regard to antimalarial drugs. This study aimed to assess the range, costs, sources and registration of antimalarial drugs in the Kenyan retail sector.\r\nIn 2002, antimalarial drug registration and trade prices were established by triangulating national registration lists, government gazettes and trade price indices. Data on registration status and trade prices were compared with similar data generated through a retail audit undertaken among 880 randomly sampled retailers in four districts of Kenya.\r\nTwo hundred and eighteen antimalarial drugs were in circulation in Kenya in 2002. These included 65 \"sulfur\"-pyrimethamine (sulfadoxine-pyrimethamine and sulfalene-pyrimethamine (SP), the first-line recommended drug in 2002) and 33 amodiaquine (AQ, the second-line recommended drug) preparations. Only half of SP and AQ products were registered with the Pharmacy and Poisons Board. Of SP and AQ brands at district level, 40% and 44% were officially within legal registration requirements. 29% of retailers at district level stocked SP and 95% stocked AQ. The retail price of adult doses of SP and AQ were on average 0.38 and 0.76 US dollars, 100% and 347% higher than trade prices from manufacturers and importers. Artemether-lumefantrine, the newly announced first-line recommended antimalarial drug in 2004, was found in less than 1% of all retail outlets at a median cost of 7.6 US dollars.\r\nThere is a need to ensure that all antimalarial drugs are registered with the Pharmacy and Poisons Board to facilitate a more stringent post-marketing surveillance system to ensure drugs are safe and of good quality post-registration....
Operations researchers have always assumed that when a product's unit cost is constant and its demand curve is known and stationary, a retailer of the product would find it optimal to replenish the inventory with a fixed quantity and to sell the product always at a fixed price. We present, with proof, a model that shows that, in such a case, an e-tailer is better off using a continuously increasing price strategy than using a fixed price strategy within each inventory cycle. Sensitivity analysis shows that this strategy is particularly profitable when demand is highly price sensitive and the inventory ordering and carrying costs are high....
In a global economy today, FDI is becoming more important than trade as a mode of international economic transactions. In context to India FDI is very important. India is not a developed county. The Indian government is badly in debt. It owes billions of dollars to the World Bank. Poverty and corruption has badly stagnated the growth of the Indian economy. So FDI has been recognized as one of the important drivers of the economic growth of our country. It is now a competitive requirement that business invest all over the globe to access markets, technology, and talent. FDI data are a clear indicator of the trend toward globalization. As far as the real estate industry is concerned, India is the fourth largest economy in the world (according to the Asian Real Estate Society International Conference). In India real estate is expected to grow at 14% percent per annum. It is also expected to double its contribution to the country’s GDP. Currently, the real estate industry in India has a shortage of 20 million units. The demand for housing is expected to rise to 80 million units by 2015 and 90 million by 2020. The estimated investment is expected to be $ 670 billion by 2015 and $ 890 billion by 2020. This paper provides guidelines, objectives, advantages and constraints for entrance of FDI. We try to provide some recommendations for investors....
With declining cigarette sales, tobacco manufacturers have been developing and marketing new smokeless products, such as R. J. Reynolds' dissolvable tobacco, Camel Sticks, Strips and Orbs. This study assessed the availability, price and point-of-purchase promotional strategies for Camel Dissolvables, and investigated consumer awareness, interest and perception of these products in the Indiana test market.\nAn exploratory retail audit of point-of-purchase promotions was conducted in a random sample of retailers from 6 store categories (n = 81) in the test market area. Data included: store type, location, product placement, forms/flavors carried, price, types and locations of advertisements and promotions, and ad messages. An Awareness-Attitude-Usage (AAU) survey was used to gauge consumer awareness and knowledge of tobacco products including Camel Dissolvables. Respondents were shown promotional materials from a package onsert and perceptions and interest in the Camel Dissolvables were assessed. An Intended Target Survey (ITS) compared subjects' perceptions of ad targets for several non-tobacco products, as well as Camel Snus, Camel No. 9 and Camel Dissolvables. Respondents were asked to identify each ad's intended target category, perceived targetedness, and purchase intent.\nThe products were carried by 46% of stores, most frequently gas stations (100%) and convenience stores (75%). They were shelved near smokeless tobacco (70%), cigarettes (25%) or candy (5%). Prices ranged from $3.59 -$4.19 per package; most stores carried at least 1 promotional item. Ad messages included: \"Dissolvable Tobacco\" (60%). \"Free Trial\" (24%), \"Special Price\" (24%), \"What's Your Style?\" (22%). At 14% of stores, free trial packs of Camel Dissolvables were offered with another Camel purchase. Awareness was reported by 42% of respondents (n = 243), and trial by 3%. Consumer interest was very low, but younger respondents (< 40 years) were more familiar with Camel Dissolvables (60% vs. 45% for those > 40 years, p < .01). Males, as well as current and former smokers had higher rates of interest and trial; only 1% of never smokers reported trial. In the ITS, only for the 3 tobacco product ads, was perceived targetedness for smokers significantly higher than for non-smokers. Smokers and nonsmokers perceived that the ads targeted smokers.\nCurrent retail promotional strategies for Camel Sticks, Strips & Orbs appear to be targeting a select audience, primarily current smokers. Overall, consumer awareness, interest and trial were low....
In many low-income countries, the retail sector plays an important role in the treatment of malaria and is increasingly being considered as a channel for improving medicine availability. Retailers are the last link in a distribution chain and their supply sources are likely to have an important influence on the availability, quality and price of malaria treatment. This article presents the findings of a systematic literature review on the retail sector distribution chain for malaria treatment in low and middle-income countries.\nPublication databases were searched using key terms relevant to the distribution chain serving all types of anti-malarial retailers. Organizations involved in malaria treatment and distribution chain related activities were contacted to identify unpublished studies.\nA total of 32 references distributed across 12 developing countries were identified. The distribution chain had a pyramid shape with numerous suppliers at the bottom and fewer at the top. The chain supplying rural and less-formal outlets was made of more levels than that serving urban and more formal outlets. Wholesale markets tended to be relatively concentrated, especially at the top of the chain where few importers accounted for most of the anti-malarial volumes sold. Wholesale price mark-ups varied across chain levels, ranging from 27% to 99% at the top of the chain, 8% at intermediate level (one study only) and 2% to 67% at the level supplying retailers directly. Retail mark-ups tended to be higher, and varied across outlet types, ranging from 3% to 566% in pharmacies, 29% to 669% in drug shops and 100% to 233% in general shops. Information on pricing determinants was very limited.\nEvidence on the distribution chain for retail sector malaria treatment was mainly descriptive and lacked representative data on a national scale. These are important limitations in the advent of the Affordable Medicine Facility for Malaria, which aims to increase consumer access to artemisinin-based combination therapy (ACT), through a subsidy introduced at the top of the distribution chain. This review calls for rigorous distribution chain analysis, notably on the factors that influence ACT availability and prices in order to contribute to efforts towards improved access to effective malaria treatment....
Within a context of fears concerning food raised by multiple crises and uncertainties, consumers naturally seek to reassure themselves as to the various components of food products. Here, certification remains a tool capable of reducing the consumers� doubts about product quality. This paper will try to provide an overall view on signals of quality, and investigate the different aspects of the consumer�s perception of labeled foodstuffs. Through an empirical study involving a sample of 212 consumers, we have been able to determine the degree of importance consumers give labels, and to define the impact of these quality�s signals on the consumer�s purchase intention....
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