Report On

Develop Business In Rural Areas With The Help Of Digital Platforms

By

Rakib Hasan

Student ID -18364033

An internship report submitted to the Graduate School of Management in

partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of

Masters of Business Administration

Brac Business School

BRAC University

30th JANUARY, 2023

©2023. BRAC University

All rights reserved

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 Declaration

It is hereby declared that

1. The internship report submitted is my/our original work while completing a degree at

BRAC University.

2. The report does not contain material previously published or written by a third party, except

Where this is appropriately cited through full and accurate referencing.

3. The report does not contain material which has been accepted, or submitted, for any other

degree or diploma at a university or other institution.

4. I/We have acknowledged all main sources of help.

Student’s Full Name & Signature:

___________________________________________

Rakib Hasan

Student ID – 18364033

Supervisor’s Full Name & Signature:

___________________________________________

Dr. Ekramul Islam

Assistant professor

Brac Business School

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 Letter of Transmittal

Dr. Ekramul Islam

Assistant Professor

Brac Business School

66 Mohakhali, Dhaka-1212

Subject: Submission of Internship Report

Dear Sir,

This is my pleasure to submit my internship report on “Develop Business in Rural Areas With
the help Of Digital Platforms". It was a great opportunity for me to acquire knowledge and
experience in respect of the functions and processes of an advertising agency while working at
Unifeel Pharmaceuticals. I believe that the knowledge and experience I have gathered during my
internship period will immensely help me in my professional life. I have concentrated as much as
possible and tried my best to achieve the objectives of the practical orientation and hope that my
endeavor will serve the purpose. However, I will always be happy to follow any further
clarification that you may require.

Sincerely yours,

_______________________

Student Full Name: Rakib Hasan

Student ID: 18364033

BRAC University

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 Acknowledgement

With the great opportunity given to us for writing this report, it has brought a sense of pleasure to
be able to submit it. I would like to thank all the contributors of this piece of writing.
Unfortunately, the list of expressive gratitude- no matter how extensive- is always incomplete
and inadequate. However, to start with, I would like to thank our Almighty God for bestowing
me with patience and courage to finish this huge task with the given deadline. In addition, I
sincerely acknowledge our debt to our honorable faculty Dr.Ekramul Islam for his valuable
counseling to better my report. Without his encouragement, this work would have been
extremely difficult to accomplish. I am also grateful to the management of Unifeel
Pharmaceuticals (Unani) for offering me the Internship training. My special thanks to Director of
Unifeel Pharmaceuticals (Unani) Mahasin Biswas.

Hasan Shawon, Manager Online Sales and the staffs who have given me the practical knowledge
about the processes.

I am also delighted to each person who I bothered inside and outside of Unifeel Pharmaceuticals
(Unani), in carrying out this report.

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 Executive Summary

In this modern period of time every business is digitalizing. The profession of a medical
promotion officer in not fully digitalized yet. Because the marketing policy does not support
digital promotion as it has so many reasons. But some parts of these sectors are developing their
models and using digital tools for improving the product promotion process. The modern period
is the period of advertising, and the likelihood of advertising success is determined by more than
just the degree of creativity. Advertising messages frequently emphasize the virtues of a product
or service. Manufacturers or organizations are obligated to maintain the promised attributes in
order for customers to continue to buy these products or services; otherwise, customers will buy
less of their products or services and patronize their competitors instead. The processes of
marketing for medicines are the same as it was decade before. Representatives do their works
visiting doctors, chemists in the hospitals, diagnostics, clinics, medical college hospitals
following their schedules set by the superiors. A successful result depends on planning,
implementation of effective policy and promotions. The purpose of this paper is to investigate
the effects and circumstances of digital marketplaces where we have to find out new possibilities
of business and as to learn how use digital platforms and expand business in hostile situations. I
attempted to conduct research using a questionnaire that would serve the purpose in the most
efficient and effective manner possible. Due to variables such as expected lack of cooperation
from some authorities and data confidentiality, I had to rely on secondary sources such as the
internet, websites, magazines, and newspapers. Throughout this research, I have noticed a
number of facts about medicine marketing, including their strengths, weaknesses, possibilities,
and dangers, all of which ought to be mentioned. Most Pharmaceuticals are primarily concerned
with the demands of consumers, trending medicines for new diseases, upgraded formulas and
their effectiveness. People working for medicine company has a hard training season for at least
one to three months before starting their career in any medicine company. This is the tough most
jobs in the marketing sector of Bangladesh which is not appreciated by the general people and
also lost its previous vibe and respect.

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 Table of Contents

Declaration 3
Letter of Transmittal 4
Acknowledgement 5
Executive Summary 6
Table of content 7-8
List of Figures 9
List of Acronyms 9
Internship Information 10
Chapter -01- Overview of the internship 11-14
1.1Students Information
1.2- Internship Information
1.3-Company supervisor’s information
1.4- Job scope
1.5 Internship outcomes
1.6 Benefits of joining
1.7 Difficulties for internship
1.8 Recommendation
Chapter 2-Organizational Overview 15-21
2.1 Purpose of the report
2.2 Company Name
2.3 Company’s Slogan
2.4 Company’s Mission
2.5 Company’s Vision
2.6 About Company
2.7 Overview of the company
2.8 Unifeel Pharmaceuticals In Brief

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2.9 Organizational Structure

2.10 Management practices

2.11Recruitment and selection process

2.12 Compensation system
2.13 Training and development
Chapter-3 21-23
3 .1 Marketing practice:
3.2 Develop Market Using Digital Platforms:
3.3 Business expanding process
SWOT analysis 24-27
Recommendation 28
Conclusion 28
References 29
Appendix 30-31

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List of Figures
2.9 Organizational Structure 18

List of Acronyms

MR= Medical Representative

SR=Sales Representative
OSE=Online Sales Executive

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 Chapter -1

Overview of the internship

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1.1Students Information

Name Rakib Hasan

ID 18364033

Program Master of Business Administration

Major Marketing

1.2- Internship Information:

Period 3 Months (01-06-2019 to 30-08-2019)

Company Name Unifeel Pharmaceuticals (Unani)

Department Marketing

Address Parnolmora, Malonchi, Pabna,Bangladesh.

1.3-Company supervisor’s information:

Name- Md. Mahasin Biswas

Position: Managing Director

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1.4- Job scope:

Job description:

As an assistant marketing manager my job is to develop a market in rural, urban and remote
areas, which involves communicating and promoting herbal and natural medicines to physicians,
chemists, and patients.

As a manager, my work is to supervise my sales and marketing team and dealers to achieve their
sales targets. I have to visit different market every day or scheduled basis and report it to my
superiors. These jobs enable me to communicate with different levels of people and experience
their tendency which is a huge advantage for me in this marketing career. But the biggest
challenge to developing market during covid-19 pandemic.

Duties and Responsibilities:

As a manager, I have various day-to-day activities that I have to fulfill. These include creating a
schedule for our sales and marketing team, meeting with physicians, chemists, and dealers in
different areas and communicating with them. Give suggestions on how to develop the market
and achieve individual targets. I am trained to give instant solutions to our customers who are
actually wholesale medicine shops or dealers and sales representatives who actually deals with
the customers. I am the liaisons who actually maintain the business communication from top to
bottom. In this type of job duties, responsibilities as well as scopes are not limited. You have to
do anything whatever it needs to be done to develop your market and any kind of strategy which
would be helpful to achieve your target.

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1.5 Internship outcomes:

As an intern, we are contributing massively not only to the company but also to the medical field
in general. For me personally we are providing natural medicine or alternative medicine which is
harmless for health and making a difference in people’s lives. Even though not being directly
involved in the medical field each of the medical or sales representative that is working, have a
huge impact on the day-to-day life of people. For me personally I am working with different
category of people .My superiors are the board of directors, and head of marketing, my
subordinates are sales and marketing representatives, dealers are actually our customers as well
as business partners. I have to communicate with physicians and chemists to promote our
products. So this job is more challenging and sometimes entertaining, I enjoy meeting different
types of people from every corner of Bangladesh and enjoy travelling the country as it is my
passion. During my internship period, it is my personal realization that sales and marketing is the
tough most and challenging work until you enjoy it and increase your adaptation capacity in
every situation and person.

1.6 Benefits of joining Unifeel Pharmaceuticals (Unani) :

Unifeel Pharmaceuticals (Unani) has provided me with benefits for the last summer of 2022 that
has surpassed my expectations. I got one working day leave to complete my MBA from BRAC
UNIVERSITY as my class starts at 6:30 pm and I have to travel from PABNA TO DHAKA to
attend the class. From the time when I joined the company, I was provided with my own
personal workstation and necessary transportation for COVID-19 safety. I was given all the basic
training that is required for me to work in the market. The training that I have received is not
something that is just limited to my current work but also applicable to any avenue of work that I
want to apply. I feel more confident, disciplined, and alert from working here. I am confident
because I have gone through one of the hardest training programs there is in Bangladesh where
one person has to go through immense amount of pressure to develop marketing skills. In the
future, if I decide I want to peruse a different carrier path this would be very helpful.

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1.7 Difficulties for internship:

There are negative sides to every company, but the greatest thing about Unifeel Pharmaceuticals
is, it is full of business people and everyone in the company are helpful and communicative.
From the top to bottom management are friendly and in the beginning, it took time to adapt. As
we know marketing is a challenging job and as it is direct marketing and I had to work in field, it
was too tough to convince people .tough training makes the job easier to be done.

1.8 Recommendation:

I always believe that you should be working in a field that you are passionate about. I was
always passionate about the healthcare industry but never was a so good student to become a
doctor or engineer. So when I had this opportunity to be part of the healthcare industry I knew
even if the pay was less I would still be happy, since I will be doing something that I am
passionate about. Later on, it turned out the pay was better. The work that I do have many
difficulties but I really enjoy it because it enables me to do what I do best and I enjoy it because
traveling is its part. Marketing is an enjoyable work and helps to increase the capacity to keep
patience recommend this job who wants to have real challenges in life, and likes adventure but
those who have no patience and passion in marketing should avoid it. The pressure is huge and
the target is tough to achieve but attainable”

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 Chapter 2

Organizational Overview
2.1 Purpose of the report:

Though it is a non-credit course but to complete my MBA degree, as per University policy, I
have to prepare this internship report.

2.2 Company Name:

Unifeel Pharmaceuticals (Unani)

2.3 Company’s Slogan:

‘’Let nature heal your health”

2.4 Company’s Mission:

“Contribute to the healthcare system providing natural medicines”

2.5 Company’s Vision:

Improve quality of herbal medicines, producing low cost medicine and treat patients with natural
cures.

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2.6 About Company:

UNIFEEL PHARMACEUTICALS (UNANI) is an herbal medicine company situated in

PABNA. It started its operation in 2013. It has 69 products in total and all of them are alternative
medicines. It is a small company but it has its operations in every district in Bangladesh. The
products are produced with GMP (Good Manufacturing Practice) guidelines and product quality
is standard.

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2.7 Overview of the company:

Unifeel Pharmaceuticals (Unani) was founded in 2013 and has been accelerating ever since. It
produces 69 natural products in total and has its operations all over the country. It is also trying
to export its products to other countries. As it is a fast-growing industry and it is developing over
time. Herbal medicine has a huge market all over the world and it is expanding every day.

2.8 Unifeel Pharmaceuticals In Brief:

Industry type Natural medicine manufacturer

Company size 200 Employee
Head Office Pabna ,Bangladesh
Type Private Company
Founded 2013
Company Size Small

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2.9 Organizational Structure:
Chairman

Managing director

Marketing Manager

Assistant Marketing Manager

SR MR
OSE

2.10 Management practices:

Leadership Style: Before we explain what kind of leadership style is followed by Unifeel
Pharmaceuticals, let us have a look and understand the different types of leadership styles.

Autocratic leadership: When we think of autocratic leadership the first thing that comes to my
mind is Adolf Hitler. It's simply because he was the one in charge of calling all the shots. The
autocratic leadership style involves where 1 single individual controls all the decisions and takes
very little opinion of others around him. A few famous people who we might know that are
known for following this style is Napoleon Bonaparte, Queen Elizabeth the first, and Vladimir
Putin.

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Democratic leadership: Democratic leadership involves in collective decision-making. This is a
leadership style in which members of the group participate in the decision-making process.

A very famous person which we all might know who followed this leadership style was Nelson
Mandela.

Laissez Faire: This leadership is style does not require any kind of micromanaging. In this
leadership style authorities do not try to get too involved, or give too much instruction or
guidance. Rather leaders let their employees use their skills, creativity, resources, and experience
to help them achieve their goals.

A very famous leader who embodied this leadership was Andrew Mellon.

Now that we have a clear understanding of the different types of leadership, Unifeel
Pharmaceuticals follows Laissez faire with a bit of a twist. They do provide a basic guidance and
training but once a person is assigned to his job or communicating with the customers they do
not get too involved or give too much instruction. They let the representatives do their work and
based on the performance and desire each individual have they let them path their own way. If
someone is happy with the position they are in they do not push that person. However, if
someone is willing to go that extra distance and go out of their way to show their value they are
rewarded. In the end, it is the sales target that influences or pressurizes the dealer, customer, or
medical and sales representative.

Now the question is how does this help the company grow? The company is based on the
foundations of the quality natural products. They are the main pillars that hold the platform
together. With this leadership strategy, the door is pretty much open for anyone to reach the top
with their skill and passion. In this way it's much easier to find people who are more passionate
about what they do and will be loyal to the company in the long run. Someone who is putting
that extra effort in the last year is not likely to jump boats when another opportunity comes his
way. This lets the company easily detect the needles in the haystack. This also gives an equal
opportunity for everyone and a fair playing ground since everyone has availability to the same
policy and resources. This way the company is able to produce the leaders of tomorrow.

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2.11Recruitment and selection process:

When it comes to recruitment and selection process Unifeel pharmaceuticals is very realistic and
forthcoming. The recruitment process has 3 different stages that an individual has to pass for a
selection. Right from the get-go candidates are selected based on skills and experience and not
educational experience alone. That’s why we have MR that is from various backgrounds doing
day-to-day tasks here. The first phase is an online Basic English test trying to get an
understanding of the individual’s English skills since this job requires basic medical and product
knowledge. Then if the candidates pass the first section they are invited to a critical thinking and
decision-making test. This test requires individuals to think outside the box and make a good
decision that will help him or her to have an advantage on sales. Having a good decision-making
capacity and being communicative are the two skills that are a must for being a good scribe.
Therefore, individuals who are unable to pass these are highly unlikely of making good Medical
or Sales representatives. Those who do pass this test are then invited to an interview session
where they are given some scenarios and see how they handle themselves under pressure. Some
basic information is given to them and various concerns regarding joining the company are
cleared up. They are also presented with some harsh choices that they have to address. For
example, they are told from the start that for anyone being an MR or SR and working outside his
home district is very difficult but a must. They will also be made aware that this will require
them to go through one of the toughest training programs. Based on how the interview goes a
final confirmation mail will be sent either with a congratulatory letter welcoming them to the
part of the team or a letter wishing them the best in the future ahead.

2.12 Compensation system:

Unifeel Pharmaceuticals has a very fair compensation system. In the 3 different stages of the
training process, individuals are paid with transportation, free meal, residence, and a small
amount after joining. This from a business standpoint makes a lot of sense since they are putting

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in effort and time training people who they want to pass to the next stage. This policy encourages
people to join the company and they never think of it as a waste of time.

2.13 Training and development:

Unifeel Pharmaceuticals has a training program that is divided into 3 different sections in 3
different phases. Phase 1 has 3 different training programs.

Phase 1:

*Developing English language for professional work

*Basic understanding of medicine and human behavior

*Different types of communicative skills with Doctors, dealers, and other customers

Phase 2:

Phase 2 mainly focuses on product knowledge and every core detail of the products indication,
highlight, dosage, packaging details, prices, etc.

Phase 3:

Phase 3 is the practical things that they have to do in the markets. They are visiting doctors,
chemists and dealers. What should be a proper gesture for MR and SR. What should they say and
what not, every single details.

Once these 3 training phases are done then a medical or sales representative is ready to work for
Unifeel Pharmaceuticals.

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 Chapter 3

Main Project

Develop Business in Rural Areas Using

Digital Platforms

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3 .1 Marketing practice:

I joined Unifeel pharmaceuticals on 01-09-2019. Immediately after that on 8 march 2020, the
first Corona virus (Covid -19) case was confirmed and on 26th of March, the government of
Bangladesh declared special leave or lockdown up to May 2020. So at that time, all general
practice was stopped and it was very risky to work outside, especially in the clinic, hospital, and
diagnostics. Even people are unable to go outside. As our products are not mainstream products
or they are alternative medicines the business started facing huge losses as it has to pay all the
fixed costs. So the board of directors called a virtual meeting on how to increase sales in this
situation when the world suddenly stopped. As we are related to health care, we have permission
to go outside and work. But it was always highly risky. On the other hand, clinics, hospitals, and
diagnostics do not allow visiting doctors. Even most of the doctors stopped consulting
physically. Visiting doctors was quite impossible. So suddenly sales dropped.

3.2 Develop Market Using Digital Platforms:

As we know advertising medicines on social or mass media is completely prohibited in

Bangladesh. So it was illegal to use platforms like social media .direct physical marketing was
stopped. So unlike others, we started selling products through DARAZ. But this idea failed
because with Daraz we cannot communicate with our customers properly and explain every
detail. So we started some recruitment on our company’s Facebook Page which includes work
from home and income a handsome amount. But in this process, we needed some young people
who are experts in handling social media. We mainly target graduate students who are jobless
and staying ideally in their homes. Our recruitment process was online like a video call on
messenger was enough. We select 10 women to work with us.

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3.3 Business expanding process

Firstly we started a 7 days training program which was on ZOOM. They are trained only about
the Indications, price, and product delivery options. Our business model was B2B which is we
only sell products to the medicine shop and dealers. We do not sell products directly to patients.
For this purpose, we Created 10 Facebook IDs and give them access to our 10 employees. They
post on Facebook search for customers every day and communicate with the customers.

During the pandemic, it was prohibited to go outside. People are often busy with social media
even people often bought daily commodities online. It was easy for us to connect with people
from every corner of the country with the blessings of social media. The government also
inspires to buy and sell or update businesses online. We took that opportunity and started a
business online though our products are medicine. We got a great response from people related
to medicine even people who personally wanted to buy our products. Cough Syrup, Medicine for
breathing problems especially asthma, and sex stimulator medicines were our most wanted
medicines. After 15 days of advertising and boosting the post our sales started to rise where
earlier we had a tough time. On the other hand, we started to reach most of the remote and rural
areas of Bangladesh.

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Competitive rivalry:

When it comes to competitive rivalry Unifeel Pharmaceuticals Bangladesh has many. There are
many companies and many people personally doing business on social media but most of them
are outsourcing the products we only sell products produced by our company.

Threat of substitution:

Since there are many companies providing the same kinds of products but every one of them has
a uniqueness of its own. Though Bangladesh there is the threat of substitution we already have a
market share and a group of loyal customers. But in the end, the threat of substitution is too high.

Threat of new entry:

Threat of new entry is always present since they currently are running a monopolistic business.
If a new entry does arrive it will give more opportunity to the youth to bargain their worth since
they will have a choice to take their skill from one organization to the other.

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SWOT analysis:

SWOT analysis is a strategic planning and strategic management technique used to help a person
or organization to identify strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats related to business
competition or project planning.

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Strength: There are so many things in this company that can be counted as strengths. From
their training programs to the attractive fringe benefits they provide. However, the biggest
strength of the company is its product quality and uniqueness of products. The company has a
group of loyal employees as it facilitates them as families which strengthen it the most.

Weakness: Now a day the competition is too high and the industry is in its mature stage. So
every company that wants to survive has to develop every day and upgrade its policy over time.

Opportunity: From my personal experience they have already captured the biggest
opportunity they had, which was increasing the recruitment process during the pandemic. Many
companies had cut their workforce by a huge number and Unifeel pharmaceuticals had decided
they are going to make this misery into an opportunity. They started hiring people and providing
them with workstations during the pandemic so they can work from home. This was a huge
capitalization of opportunity.

Threat: For Unifeel pharmaceuticals, they are not in fear of competition. They believe that
competition makes a company strong and stable. The biggest threat for them is the external
environment.

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Recommendation:

Unifeel Pharmaceuticals (Unani) is a small alternative medicine manufacturer. Now the biggest
companies like SQUARE, ACME, IBN SINA, and Drug International have already come into
the UNANI sector. So the competition is with the giants who have resources beyond
imagination. If we want to survive we must focus on the quality of the products and upgrade
them every day.

Conclusion:

UNIFEEL PHARMACEUTICALS is a standard quality medicine manufacturer with endless

possibilities to perform in the healthcare sector. The world is now moving forward to natural and
organic products even applicable for medicine also. It also provides a friendly environment and
standard wages. Starting my marketing career with Unifeel Pharmaceuticals is a nice journey still
now. It is a place of opportunities to me.

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Reference:

• https://www.academia.edu/38270509/Text_10th_Edition

• https://www.academia.edu/43658566/Marketing_Management_15th_Edition_by_
Philip_Kotler_Kevin_Lane_Keller

• https://au.indeed.com/career-advice/finding-a-job/medical-representative-
responsibilities

• https://www.thedailystar.net/business/economy/news/profit-falls-most-listed-
pharmas-3166296
• https://targetjobs.co.uk/careers-advice/job-descriptions/medical-representative-
job-description
• https://www.thedailystar.net/business/pharma-sector-grow-15pc-year-study-
1429024

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 Appendix:

Section 1 of 2

Email

………………………………………………..

What is your age?

• 15-20
• 21-30
• 31-40
• 41-50
• 50 or above

What is your Gender?

• Male
• Female

Section 2of 2

Unani /Natural medicine play an important role in the healthcare system?

• Strongly Agree
• Agree
• Disagree
• Strongly Disagree
• Neutral

Do you prefer to work in a Unani medicine company ?

• Yes
• No

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 • May be

What type of Medicine Company do you prefer to work in?

…………………………………………………………..

Do you think that digital platforms will help a medicine company to grow?

…………………………………………………………………………….

An alternative medicine helps to cure diseases without any side effects

• Strongly Agree
• Agree
• Disagree
• Strongly Disagree
• Neutral

Have you ever take any kinds of herbal medicines?

…………………………………………………………

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