The list of shortages of basic medicines and medicines for chronic diseases is long on the shelves of pharmacies, according to the president of the Panhellenic Pharmaceutical Association Apostolos Valtas. Mr. Valtas stated during a press conference that 100 to 150 preparations are missing every day, typically saying that “the problem has swelled to a great extent”. He blamed the continuing shortages of drugs in the Greek market on some pharmaceutical companies, drugstores, but also the AEO, expressing his concern “for the difficulty of the state to use and implement existing laws such as the protection of Public Health or to legislate young people “.
The president of PFS spoke about a top problem in the field of Health which, unfortunately, has been constantly deteriorating in recent months. Elliptical drugs, he added, exist in all categories of chronic diseases drugs, such as cardiological, respiratory, ophthalmological, neuroleptic, anticoagulant, antiepileptic and antidepressant drugs. The reason, according to Mr. Valtas, “is one, that we are the country with the cheapest drug prices compared to all other EU countries. Depending on the demand that exists in the countries of the European Union and the price lists that are circulating “and they are a field of glory brilliant for” entrepreneurship “, the shortcomings in our country are also being formed”, he stressed.
Indicatively, he mentioned the prices of elliptical drugs in Greece and Germany, such as Parkinson’s drug in Germany, its price is 330.51 euros and in Greece 113.63, bronchodilator in Germany its price is 15.55 euros and in Greece 2, 20.
The responsibilities of pharmaceutical companies, drug stores and AEO
“Some pharmaceutical companies do not adjust the quantities of drugs they have on the market from year to year, not only by 20% as they should, they do not notify the AEO in real time of the quantities of drugs they distribute as they are distributed per drugstore, so that there is transparency, control and comparison of the distribution “, stressed the president of PFS. He noted that “artificial shortages are created at the responsibility of companies at critical times as a bargaining chip during the examination of requests and objections in the price committee, in order to achieve better pricing”.
He also said that there are drug stores “that deal exclusively with parallel exports, having even 50% of their turnover for export activity, which increase their exports sharply at the end of each year to simply improve their balance sheet”.
Regarding the AEO, he said that as a supervisory body that must carry out inspections in order to ensure the adequacy of the Greek market for at least a quarter, to be able to monitor the drugstores for their parallel exports and at the same time to compile an updated list of drugs which is really elliptical, unfortunately none of this is happening. “
He noted that 2 years ago it was decided to create an application by the PFS that monitors the real deficiencies, so that the doctor is informed in real time, that the drug he is prescribing is probably elliptical, but under the responsibility of the AEO does not work. He added that “some doctors over-prescribe in addition to the instructions of the official clinical protocols such as now for example for azimothrycine or simply continue to prescribe elliptical drugs as no one has informed them about this lack.”
PFS suggestions
Prohibition of exports of proven elliptical drugs, not for a period of three months but for a period of more than six, as the drugstores in the first case keep them in their warehouses for 2-3 months without having them available in the Greek market and then export them en masse.
Prohibition of sales between drug stores beyond a normal percentage.
Have a real-time information application on what exports each drugstore makes.
The control of the drugstores in terms of the codes that it has in total.
Implementation of the decision of EOF and PFS for the application from which the doctor will be informed about the medicine that is missing.
Finally, the PFS took the initiative to convene an extraordinary meeting with all stakeholders, “to conclude that this situation can not continue and that we must take decisions and compromise solutions, with the clear goal that finally the Greek Insured , the Greek patient should find his medicine and his treatment, concluded Mr. Valtas.
Follow Skai.gr on Google News
and be the first to know all the news
