Nine multinational pharmaceutical companies are being checked to see if they have the stocks needed to supply the Greek market, Health Minister Thanos Plevris said on Friday in Parliament, answering a question raised from MeRA25 MP Kriton Arsenis about shortages of medication.
Referring to measures to prevent parallel exports, the health minister said that a wide-ranging ban was imposed in November, noting that this was “the first time that the ban is indefinite”. Inspections have been carried out and pharmaceutical warehouses have been closed, he added.
According to Plevris, the shortages were a global issue and had to do with a lack of raw materials, while he urged the MeRA25 MP to investigate what is currently happening in Germany, England, France, America, “in countries that have [much more] expensive medicine than Greece.”
In some of these countries, Plevris said, a cap has been imposed, online sales of paracetamol have been forbidden and doctors have been given permission to make medicines in pharmacies.
In Greece, said Plevris, there is no equivalent situation because measures have been taken since the summer and because Greece is fortunate in having a strong pharmaceutical industry.
SOURCE; ANA-MPA
