by Richard Staines
LONDON, Feb 17 (APM) - Greece's new government has begun negotiations with the country's pharmaceutical industry as part of its drive against austerity measures imposed as a condition of its EU bail-out, aiming to limit drug spend while encouraging pharma to conduct trials in the country.
In an email on Monday, Greece's Hellenic Association of Pharmaceutical Companies (SFEE) said it met with new health minister, Panagiotis Kouroumplis late last week, and despite plans to squeeze drug spending, said the discussion was “positive and constructive”.
The news comes, however, as Greece struggles to reach an agreement with the EU over its bail-out conditions. On Monday evening, the Greek government rejected a draft proposal from Eurozone finance ministers that would see an extension of the international bailout package. Greece is refusing to accept the imposed austerity measures.
Following the failure of the talks in Brussels, Athens has until Friday to request an extension or see the bailout expire at the end of the month.
Access to innovation and exploring HTA models
During the pharma meeting, a spokesperson for SFEE said the health minister called for a collaboration with industry based on “respect, credibility and trust”.
While Kouroumplis acknowledged the importance of the sector, he added he wanted to ensure all citizens received the medicines they need while eliminating overspend and waste in the healthcare sector.
According to SFEE, Kouroumplis wants to look at the issue of availability of innovative drugs and will look to other European reimbursement models for possible solutions.
Kouroumplis also said multinational companies are re-investing much of their profits in the Greek market and said he wanted investment in clinical trials in Greece. He did not set out, however, any proposals to help achieve this.
SFEE said it reiterated calls at the meeting for a "sustainable" drugs budget of 2.4 billion euros. "Clawback" payments, which pharma pays to the government should the health system spend above an annual threshold, should not exceed 3% of the target figure, according to SFEE.
SFEE has also suggested a more efficient prescribing system using registries and therapeutic protocols and called for equal repayment of state debts to health providers.
Concern over health insurance coverage
In a separate interview with the Greek newspaper To Vima on Sunday, Kouroumplis said that before the economic collapse of 2010 Greece, which has a population of about 11 million, had consumed medicines “like it was a country of 40 million.”
The biggest problem facing Greece's public health system are the vast numbers of people who were left without health insurance after losing their jobs in the economic crisis, said Kouroumplis in the interview.
However SFEE said in an email on Tuesday that health insurance now falls under the remit of deputy minister of social insurance, Dimitris Stratoulis, who has pledged to extend coverage to the uninsured.
Stratoulis did not give information on how the system would be funded, according to SFEE.
rs/hlc