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August 2023 - Pharmaceutical

Public sentiment towards pharmaceutical companies operating in the UK is up marginally on last year: The latest survey conducted by the Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry (ABPI) has revealed that public sentiment towards the pharmaceutical industry in the UK has marginally improved across favourability, trust, advocacy and familiarity. 

The UK Pharma Reputation Index commissioned by the ABPI polled members of the public as well as healthcare professionals (HCPs) and Members of Parliament. It is the third survey in a series which began in 2021. 

When it comes to the general public response, 53% said they felt ‘very’ or ‘mainly’ favourable towards pharmaceutical companies operating in the UK, up from 50% in May 2022. Trust had also seen a rise from 30% in May 2022 to 32% in April 2023, while advocacy had risen to 33% in the latest survey from 30% in May 2022.

When asked about the areas that pharmaceutical companies deliver on, 77% of the British public said they ‘strongly agree’ or ‘tend to agree’ that they 'produce effective medicines and vaccines’, while 71% said they 'employ highly skilled staff' and 66% said they 'play a leading role globally in discovering new medicines'.

Other areas in which they agree that UK pharma performs well included 'creates a lot of jobs in the UK' (60%) and 'makes a positive contribution to societal challenges and issues' (45%), while around a third (32%) said they agree that they are 'committed to sustainability in their business practices'. 

The research by Ipsos also found that trust in pharmaceutical companies operating in the UK continues to be driven by the sector's role in handling the pandemic, R&D activities and by faith in regulation. When it comes to distrust of the sector, the public voiced that they believed the desire to make profit was the leading motivation of pharma companies, rather than people and patients. 

The research also asked for opinions around medicines in the UK with 54% of the general public saying they believe the NHS pays too much for medicines, while 19% said they ‘strongly’ or ‘tend to agree’ that it is okay for the NHS to use less effective treatments if it helps control costs. Also revealed by the survey was that 44% strongly or tend to agree that the UK healthcare system should ration access to new medicines to keep NHS costs down.

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