Health Minister: Adjustment of health sector was extremely violent
The adjustment of Greece’s health sector was extremely violent, Health Minister Makis Voridis admitted on Wednesday, adding that eventually the vibrations were absorbed and a balance was achieved.
Speaking at the board meeting of Athens’ Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the minister said the pharmaceutical expenditure fell from about five billion euros to 2.2 billion, while this year’s target is to repay most debts owed by the State towards the pharmaceutical industry (excluding debts from 2012, 2013 and towards Greece’s main social security fund IKA).
Voridis also said authorities will intensify corruption audits and will review costs registered by private clinics and diagnostic exams.
He described claw back provisions as a necessary evil and expressed his view that "with proper work, pharmaceutical companies will not be burdened."
On his side, the President of the Chamber, Constantinos Michalos, said a coordinated reform approach is needed to identify the real sources of waste and fight the real causes of high costs.
Such an approach would end the targeting of specific sectors with measures that block the operation of the market and cause unimaginable suffering to citizens, while destroying companies and their employees, he said.
Michalos also noted that investing in innovative medicines and medical solutions can yield long-term cumulative economic benefits for public health systems and that the government must promote Greece as a destination of choice for clinical research and medicine production.
He also said the state has to restore its credibility towards its suppliers by paying in full all its debts towards them and ensure new ones are not accumulated.
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