Exploring the Distribution System of Herbal Medicine from the Perspective of Purchases and Orders Managers in the Pharmacies in Tehran and Qom: A Qualitative Study

Background and Objectives: Because of the increased using of herbal medicines, these drugs are becoming vital. By reviewing Iran’s drug supply chain, we find out consumers have less knowledge about the type of drug and its manufacturer, therefore pharmacies are the main clients of pharmaceutical products. This makes the role of pharmacies very important in profitability of the supplier and distributor of herbal medicines. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to identify the distribution problems of herbal medicines from the perspective of pharmacies. Material and Methods: This was a qualitative study. The statistical population of this study was pharmacies of Tehran and Qom cities of Iran in 2018; among which 22 pharmacists in charge of drug acquisition were selected through judgmental and snowball sampling method. We used exploratory interviews to collect data and by content analysis method, meaning themes and primary units were done during the data collection and interviews. Finally, by using axial coding, final codes were categorized. Results: The most important problems of pharmacies were recognized as lack of medical sales representative for physicians, lack of product, and difficulty in returning of the expired products, lack of medical sales representative for pharmacies and lack of specialized sales channel of herbal medicine. Conclusion: In addition to distribution problems, the problems of other marketing elements affect the distribution of herbal medicines as well. Also, distribution problems of these drugs are more affected by the elements of the product itself rather than the distribution elements.