Balkans | The shortage of medicines in Greece provoked a reaction from the main opposition and pharmacists

Alexis Tsipras, leader of the main opposition party, the Alliance of Radical Left (Syriza), criticized the government for failing to manage the drug crisis well, while pharmacists stated that warnings given to the government for a year had not been heeded.

Tsipras, who met Konstandinos Lorandos, president of the Attica Region Pharmacists Association, and other representatives, said in a statement that he had drawn attention to the shortage of medicines in the country, and said measures should be taken as soon as possible.

Tsipras said he was concerned about the increase in cases of COVID-19 and diseases caused by viruses across the country, and said citizens’ access to medicine was a “vital issue”.

Tsipras, who said that drug supplies must be secured through inspections in the drug market and drug warehouses and banning the export of drugs, told the government: “Once again, it allows the problem to turn into a crisis.” made his comment.

Tsipras stated that the problems with drug supplies have been going on for about a year and argued that the government has turned a blind eye to exporting some cheap medicines in Greece to the European market with a higher profit share.

Pharmacists also complain that their warnings were ignored for a year

According to news from the Greek state agency AMNA, Lorandos drew attention to the dimensions of the ordeal and said, “I have been in this profession for 44 years, and I have never experienced anything like this.” He said.

He stated that pharmacists have been warning about drug shortages for more than a year, and Lorandos stated that the Ministry of Health did not take these warnings into account.

Lorandos argued that exports of some drugs have doubled in the past year.

The government decided to take new measures.

In a meeting in which Greek Minister of Health Thanos Pleveris and representatives of pharmacies discussed the problems of drug supply on Monday, January 2, frequent inspections of drug warehouses to prevent the export of these drugs, and the closure of drug warehouses that do not comply with the export ban or that. Medicine stocks for a period of time, especially antipyretic and antipyretic drugs, and it was decided to take a series of measures, such as adjusting the adequacy of medicines in pharmaceutical companies, especially medicines used to treat children.

Subsequently, Belfres sent a letter to the European Union (EU) Health Commissioner regarding the drug shortages the country was facing, arguing that countries should work as a whole to solve the drug shortages faced by all EU countries.

AA