Issues to ensure transparency and control in the drug distribution chain in Greece

Regarding the Greek National Organization for Medicines (EOF) announcement on the issue of shortages, the trade group Hellenic Association of Pharmaceutical Companies (SFEE) has issued its views. It emphasized the following points:

The issue of shortages of medicines is a global phenomenon with many dimensions. The European pharmaceutical strategy, which has been discussed for two-three years in Brussels, has put the issue of medicine shortages at the heart of its initiatives, but without proposing sustainable and substantial solutions to tackle the problem.

In Greece, the issue is even more complex because, apart from the lack of raw materials and active substances that affect the factories, there is also the issue of parallel exports of mainly innovative medicines, which is due to very low prices compared to other European countries. For example, these prices in the local market are around 1/4 or 1/5 of the price of the same drugs in Germany and this huge profit margin pushes some Greek wholesalers to prefer exports.