An increasing willingness to try alternative medicines, especially among women, is set to drive sales of vitamin and mineral supplements across Europe, according to a new report from market analysts Datamonitor.
The study, called Self-medication, claims that this willingness to take healthcare decisions without consulting a doctor will help drive sales of vitamin and mineral supplements by 3.2 per cent between 2000 and 2006. Over-the-counter medicines are also expected to benefit, growing by 2.5 per cent over the same period.
This change in consumption patterns is attributed to two principal factors by Datamonitor - a general consumer desire to take greater responsibility for their own lives, and government moves to cap health spending by encouraging pharmaceutical companies to make more OTC products.
"In the past, people tended to passively accept medical decisions concerning their health and the healthcare facilities at their disposal. They now wish to play a far greater role and take more responsibility for their own health. Within this desire to exercise individual decision, many consumers are also looking outside the traditional realm of pharmaceuticals to products such as vitamins, supplements and herbal remedies," said Neil Broome, Datamonitor analyst and author of the report.
The changing role of the retail sector is also having a profound impact on consumers' self-medication habits, the report continues. Pharmacists are pushing to extend their role in self-medication, partly as a result of pressure from the rise in private label and generics, but also in search of greater profits. In general, pharmacists are in favour of promoting self-medication, through taking a greater role in advising patients and supporting manufacturer moves towards more OTC products.
Datamonitor said that despite the expected growth in both OTC products and vitamin and mineral supplements (VMS) over the forecast period, there would still be considerable volatility in the market, as consumers are highly sensitive to the results of new research, which often shows contradictory results. However, the Internet helps by allowing consumer-to-consumer communication, which increases consumers' confidence in the effectiveness of such products in the light of uncertain scientific evidence.
There was a distinct gender gap when it came to self-medication, according to Datamonitor's research, which showed that women suffer from complaints they deem worthy of treatment more often than men. Women are more likely to use OTC, VMS, alternative therapies or changes in diet when they are unwell, the report showed.
"The evidence from focus groups revealed that the most significant barrier to the wider acceptance and use of complementary medicine is a general lack of information - most people literally don't know it's there. On the whole, the women who are aware of it - but don't yet use it - wish to know more about it. Men have far greater trust in conventional medicine and largely want medicine to provide symptomatic relief, whereas women are far less trusting of doctors and the pharmaceutical industry, and desire more holistic solutions to their ills," Broome commented.
The report claimed that 44 per cent of male respondents believe that conventional medicine is always superior to alternative medicine, compared to 33 per cent of female respondents, and that 61 per cent of men (compared to 49 per cent of women) will take whatever medicines are necessary to make a problem go away.
Meanwhile, 46 per cent of women prefer 'natural' solutions, on the whole, (compared to just 25 per cent of men), and 26 per cent of men and 38 per cent of women will only take prescribed or OTC medicines as a last resort.
Men are much more sceptical, it appears, with the majority calling for alternative therapies to be subjected to various testing procedures. However, both the majority of both male and female respondents proposed that they would accept a recommendation of a trusted friend, local doctor or a recognised, independent body.
"The problem seems to be that this leaves complementary medicine caught in a vicious circle: if more people tried it (and it worked) then more people would try it. It does seem, though, that much of the mistrust expressed towards alternative remedies is due to ignorance and a lack of understanding, and therefore could be overcome through knowledge and information," said Broome, adding that the Internet could be the best way of achieving this.
"Consumers have already demonstrated that they are willing to try new means of self-medication, as evidenced through rising sales of herbal products and VMS. As manufacturers and retailers take greater note of consumers' needs, ill-health increasingly stands out as an area with unmet demands. Opportunities will exist both for products which actively contribute to the curative process, and those non-medicinal products such as comfort foods which consumers feel they should have when ill," he concluded.