New government intervention on drug shortages – How market players are reacting

New intervention by the government was caused by the lack of specific medicines on the market, through the Minister of Health Thanos Pleuris. Mr. Pleuris announced ten meter beam to address the problem after the broad meeting held on Monday with the participation of representatives of EOF, IFET, PEF, SFEE, PFS as well as a representative of the Panhellenic Association of Pharmacies.

Among other things, it was decided to continue the inspections of pharmacies for the non-export of elliptical medicines, with a single penalty the suspension of operations in those pharmacies that do not cooperate or keep a reserve, and expanding the prescription of generic drugs where there are shortages.

However, the Ministry of Health points out that “the common belief of all is that this is a global problem which affects our country to a lesser extent mainly due to the presence of industrial units in Greece”.

“The problems of drug availability that have appeared in our country it is much smaller in scale than in other EU countries” notes the Association of Pharmaceutical Enterprises of Greece (SFEE), while the Panhellenic Pharmaceutical Industry Association states that “42 Greek pharmaceutical factories are working day and night to meet the needs of Greek patients”.

Government measures

In the measures that have already been taken and are related to the limitation of parallel exports and the increase of the adequacy of medicines in the country, it was decided by the Minister to update the measures as follows:

1. Continuation of inspections of pharmacies for the non-export of elliptical medicines, with the only penalty being the suspension of operations in those pharmacies that do not cooperate or keep a reserve.
2. Continuation of the audit of pharmaceutical companies to establish that they have the sufficiency of drugs to cover the Greek market, especially antipyretic and pediatric drugs.
3. Increase in orders from IFET for the active substances for which there is a global shortage.
4. Information from the EOF about medicines that are missing from the market, while at the same time it will be announced that there is a substitution of medicines. In this way, citizens will know that instead of a specific branded drug, which generic, with corresponding effectiveness, can be obtained.
5. Expanding the prescription of generic drugs where there are shortages.
6. Rationalization of prices for drugs which are elliptical and of very low cost value.
7. Existence of continuous collaboration with pharmacists so that the citizen can be better served when shortages arise.
8. Increase in e-prescribing of elliptical medicines.
9. Informing doctors about drug shortages, so that the prescription can be adjusted to corresponding therapeutic values.
10. In addition, it was decided that the Greek pharmaceutical industry will exhaust the possibilities of increasing the production of generics and the multinational companies will intensify the import of elliptical drugs.

At the same time, the Minister of Health made it clear that there will be meetings with medical associations in the near future for information and coordination on the matter.

“Our country has taken all the necessary measures so that the global problem of the lack of specific active substances can be dealt with in the best possible way,” it is emphasized.

SFEE: “The problems of drug availability that have appeared in our country are much smaller than in other EU countries”

There are no shortages of medicines in the Hospitals or in the EOPYY pharmacies, except for a few exceptions. The problem of shortages is observed in private pharmacies and mainly concerns drugs with active substances such as paracetamol, amoxicillin and some pulmonary inhaled drugs. “The problems of availability of medicines that have appeared in our country are of a much smaller scale than in other EU countries”. The above is stated in a statement by the Association of Pharmaceutical Companies of Greece (SFEE), regarding the issue of drug shortages and following a meeting of all involved bodies at the Ministry of Health. He notes that this type of shortage is a global phenomenon due to a lack of raw materials and packaging materials combined with the seasonal increase in infections, which has been particularly strong this year. According to the SFEE, this problem is expected to be gradually corrected in the coming months, while the use of other substitute drugs that are widely available is recommended, always under the guidance of the attending physician or even the pharmacist. Stockpiling by consumers should also be avoided, as it exacerbates the problems and deprives our fellow citizens who need them of medicines.

He adds that with the export ban in place on around 260 medicines, there are already signs of improvement, while it is expected to be even more important in these elliptical products in the near future. “It should not escape our attention that the phenomenon of parallel exports (re-export of drugs imported into the country to other European countries, not by the pharmaceutical companies, but by circles of the drug marketing chain, due to a price difference) is due to the fact that in our country we have some of the cheapest medicines in Europe”.

In today’s meeting with the Minister of Health, reference was also made to the fact that more than 1,300 medicines are – in contradiction with the current legislation – below the lowest price in the Eurozone, as a result of which their disposal is problematic and if they are withdrawn, they will be replaced by others much cheaper more expensive, reports SFEE. “The intention was expressed to examine this issue in order to maintain these drugs on the Greek market through targeted financial support. At the same time, the need for targeted actions that could support the production of necessary established drugs by the Greek Pharmaceutical Industry was emphasized, thus avoiding the very expensive imports through IFET, but also improving the position of our own industry in the European market”.

The European pharmaceutical industry recognizes the importance of returning the production of medicines, as well as raw materials, to Europe, has focused on reducing dependence on India and China and is taking the necessary measures to implement this strategy, which of course requires time and investment in Europe and in Greece, reports SFEE. It concludes that its member companies – International and Greek – make continuous efforts to ensure the access of Greek patients to the necessary treatments, as the safeguarding of Public Health is a top priority.

PEF: “42 Greek pharmaceutical factories are working day and night to meet the needs of Greek patients”

For its part, regarding the noise of the last few days regarding drug shortages in the domestic market, the Panhellenic Pharmaceutical Industry Association points out that in Greece we are in a much better position than other European countries, due to the existence of domestic production. “From September of this year until November, Greek pharmaceutical industries produced more than 25 million packages of medicines every month. If this had not been done, today we would be facing huge shortages even of medicines for chronic diseases such as anti-lipid, anti-hypertensive and cardiac medicines. deficiency. At the same time, the Greek pharmaceutical industry continues to continuously supply the country’s hospitals with essential drugs,” it is noted.

According to PEF, at this time, 42 Greek drug production factories are operating day and night at full capacity, to meet the needs of Greek patients. “Greek production continues unabated, despite the adverse environment composed of continuous price reductions in old drugs, huge clawback and overtaxation reaching 70%, rising production costs and high inflation.” He emphasizes that these charges are absorbed entirely by the pharmaceutical companies and are not passed on to patients.

PEF is committed that despite the problems of the global market and the adverse environment, will maintain the operation of its units on a 24-hour basis in order to ensure the adequacy of the market and the coverage of the needs of Greek patients. He once again calls on the State to take measures for the effects of inflation and the removal of excessive taxation that currently affects the manufactured medicines. At the same time, it assures that through its ongoing investment program, the coverage of the needs of Greek patients from domestic production will continue to expand in the newest treatments as well.

– AMPE

Read the News today and get the latest news.
Follow Skai.gr on Google News and be the first to know all the news.