The assumption that 2023 was a very difficult year for the , was made by the Minister of Health, at the event for cutting the New Year’s pie of the SFE Speaking at the event of the Association of Pharmaceutical Enterprises of Greece (SFE) held in a central Athens hotel, Adonis Georgiadis described in 2023 as “Annus horribilis” for pharmaceutical companies, using the historical phrase of Queen Elizabeth of England, which he described in the difficult year 1992, when the royal family faced a series of serious crises. CORVERSE The same expression he used to reflect the challenges faced by the pharmaceutical industry because of the super-high notes he received for compulsory returns, making the year 2023 an unbearable time for the industry indeed. It should be recalled that the clawback charge in the first half of 2023 for companies touched up to 83% of hospital drug spending, while overall, in absolute figures reached 245m euros, according to Iatropedia.gr. “The 2023 was an annus horribilis, a terrible year that should never be repeated”, noted Mr Georgiadis, explaining how poor efficiency is directly linked to the multiple election contests that took place within the same year. CORVERSE Moving further he emphatically pointed out that the same year was indeed a “traged worthy of Aeschylus, Euripides and Sophocles”. Adding, however, that, despite the difficulties at the end of the year, exceptional measures were taken to strengthen funding for both 2023 and 2024. “The 2023 was the first year we scored a setback. We reached just over 70% in clawback, while a good target would be 50%. However, the high clawback in hospital drugs mainly concerns non-negotiable preparations. The rest was covered,” he noted and added: “When I took over, I stated that I understand how unacceptable these unseen levels of return are and that measures will be taken to deal with them. Our strategy is based on two axes: increasing expenditure and implementing structural measures to reduce clawback”. For the year 2024, the Minister of Health announced that clawback notes would be sent with a 10-day delay, on 25 January instead of early in the month and predicted a better outcome: “2024 is expected to be better than 2023,” he said. “We have budgetary restrictions” The Minister of Health, however, made it clear that it cannot be put on a “plate” at the level of the clawback and apologizing added that there are EU financial rules that have since this year changed and set specific spending limits. “If we commit a clawback ceiling, the General Accounting Office of the State should secure funding in the event of excess. I don’t think that’s a good idea, especially now that the measures are paying off,” he said specifically. Georgiadis also stressed that after a decade without any increase in pharmaceutical spending, there has been a steady increase in the last two years. ‘EUR 470 million were added in 2024, while EUR 580 million would be added for 2025 and EUR 690 million for 2026, with a reference year in 2020’ He concluded by saying he expects drug users to submit proposals for the Cooperation Agreement and expressed his optimism about further improving measures in 2025. Finally, Mr Papadimitriou described the 2025 crucial year for the evaluation of the measures taken in 2024. “The future of the medicine in Greece depends on the financing, reduction of compulsory refunds and the creation of a predictable environment for pharmaceutical companies,” he concluded. Olympian Papadimitriou: “The drug is not in government priorities” In the opening address of the event, the President of the Hellenic Republic, Olympian Papadimitriou, stressed that despite the efforts and important commitments made by Adonis Georgiadis in recent times – which were “not free of political costs”, as he admitted – in 2023 reached certain categories of drugs “to extreme return limits, which there is no room for this to happen again”, as he said. The pharmaceutical industry representatives “despite the distress created by the numbers of ’23”, found that at least they had good communication and cooperation “with a health minister who understands the issues and has an opinion on them and a mood for action. But also a government that finally seems to have realized the problem,” Mr Papadimitriou said. The pharmaceutical industry, however, remains under pressure due to the prolonged situation with budgetary constraints, – according to the Chairman of the ETF. Greece is in a ‘extreme position’ on the European health map, having one of the lowest public pharmaceutical costs in the EU, at 255 euros per capita, compared to 409 euros in the countries of the European South (Italy, Spain, Portugal, France), as he added. At the same time, it was reported in a survey showing that the effect of these restrictions is limited access for Greek patients to innovative treatments. Of the 221 new medicines approved by the European Medicines Agency (EMA) in 2020-2023, only 43 are available in Greece, with the risk of further increasing in the coming years, inequalities in patient access. “The government’s handling is that there are no other possibilities, our point of view on the other hand is, it is a matter of priorities. And the drug does not appear to be too high on these priorities, although it contributes significantly to reducing costs in other cost centres in the health system and in society in general,” Mr Papadimitriou stressed.
Adonis Georgiadis: “It cannot be put at the clawback level due to EU budgetary rules”
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