What emerges from the data of the Pharmaceutical Association of Thessaloniki
Shortages of more than 400 pharmaceuticals are observed in the pharmacies of Thessaloniki as a consequence hundreds of citizens to they wait up to 30 days until the medicine they need to cure them is found. The above results from his data Pharmaceutical Association of Thessaloniki (FST). These are mainly medicines for the heart, diabetes, hypertension, respiratory, Parkinson’s disease, but also antipyretic, antibiotic, anti-inflammatory, antidepressant, anxiolytic and gastroenterological. According to the Tax Office, pharmacists to serve the citizens look for medicines from pharmacy to pharmacy within the prefecture of Thessaloniki or in other prefectures, from Evros to Crete. In fact, there are fears that the situation will worsen, as due to the summer, companies are closed for holidays, but the stocks are not enough to meet the existing needs.
Drug shortages are a chronic problem
“Drug shortages are a chronic problem that is not only not being solved, but is getting worse, straining pharmacists and putting patients at risk. Now it is rare that a recipe can be completely executed, since at least one ingredient is almost always missing from what is written in it. During the waiting period, many of the patients risk being left without their medication, because for a drug that is in short supply, there is not always another one that can be replaced, or they are forced to visit their doctor again to get it. change it”, points out the president of the Pharmaceutical Association of Thessaloniki, Dionysios Eugenides.
However, a “thorn” is also the serious shortage of medicines that are not in circulation in our country, but are imported through IFET (Institute of Pharmaceutical Research & Technology SA). According to the secretary of the Greek National Institute of Health, Giorgos Kiose, “recently, there have been serious shortages of such drugs, such as, for example, the Tetana vaccine and the Librax pills that are indicated for gastrointestinal diseases.”
“Despite the fact that these drugs are very widespread and prescribed to a large number of patients, they are constantly in short supply resulting in the suffering of the citizens, as they are forced to either take the double or triple tetanus vaccine, which is not only for tetanus , but also diphtheria or to change the medication with regard to the rest of the preparations”, emphasizes Mr. Kioses and adds “the landscape regarding the causes that cause the specific deficiencies remains cloudy. The parties involved throw the ball of blame at each other, as IFET claims that it cannot order and import these drugs without a prior order from EOF”.
Proposal to create a drug shortage observatory
“The medicines that are in short supply are usually owned by multinational companies and are sold in our country at much lower prices compared to abroad, which dramatically increases their export interest. At regular intervals, we inform the competent bodies and publicize the problem by proposing solutions, such as a ban on parallel exports for a period of more than one year, substantial checks by the authorities and better management of stocks. However, no one is taking the initiative to definitively solve the problem or even limit the deficiencies”, says Mr. Eugenidis.
For his part, Mr. Kioses proposes “the creation of a shortage observatory with daily updates on the prevailing situation, in collaboration with the Panhellenic Pharmaceutical Association and Pharmacists’ Cooperatives, but mainly with pharmacies. Every pharmacist will have the option through the electronic prescription to declare that the prescription medicine was not found at the specific time and thus all the involved bodies, i.e. doctors, pharmacists, pharmaceutical companies, EOF and the Ministry of Health, will be validly and timely informed about the shortages ». The FSTH has repeatedly submitted specific proposals to the competent bodies to solve the problem of drug shortages, and recently created an informative video (https://webtv.fsth.gr/video/455238) to highlight the issue.
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