News

Press Release

Patient associations, the State and the pharmaceutical industry at the same dialogue table: Problems, proposals and solutions to improve patients’ access to healthcare services

Athens, 29 April 2025.- The “voice” of patients, highlighting the complex and significant challenges they face daily in accessing healthcare services — from diagnosis and referral to specialists, to receiving medical care — was heard by both the State and the pharmaceutical industry. Patient representatives, the Ministry of Health, and the pharmaceutical industry came together at the same dialogue table during the 1st SfEE Patient Think Tank Summit, organized by the Hellenic Association of Pharmaceutical Companies on Tuesday, April 29, 2025, at Aigli Zappeion.

During his welcome address, Olympios Papadimitriou, President of SfEE, noted that health systems worldwide face challenges, and the Greek healthcare system is no exception. Therefore, dialogue between all stakeholders is imperative, so that the patient is at the center throughout the entire treatment process. “We need patient-centered policies and medicine is one of the most powerful tools we have today. The patient must be at the core of healthcare policies and at the same time we need to give value to how the patient evaluates the treatments, and the quality of the services received,” he underlined. As he said, “the goal of the 1st SfEE Patient Think Tank Summit, with the participation of patient associations and the pharmaceutical industry, is to listen to the voices of patients”.

“This discussion can be a road map for what we should do,” stressed the Minister of Health, Adonis-Spyridon Georgiadis. After congratulating SfEE for the initiative, he said that only positive actions can emerge from the discussion. “I would like to have the resources to accept every request and fulfill every wish of the patients. However, the needs are many and there are significant challenges from the introduction of new and innovative medicines, especially for the State budget. We are trying to make the entry of new treatments faster in our country and we are proceeding with a series of legislative initiatives to make patients’ lives better,” he said. Some of them are the strengthening of EOPYY’s budget for the new units of measurement devices for patients with diabetes and the National Registry of Cancer Patients. “There will always be problems, but the doors will be open to find the most feasible solutions.”

In a live connection with Brussels, Ioannis Vardakastanis, President of ESAmeA, stressed the importance of dialogue between the pharmaceutical sector and patients. “ESAmeA has been in dialogue with the Ministry of Health since its establishment. We believe that this communication is very important. Our body is established in the conscience of citizens and the state, representing people with disabilities, chronic and rare diseases and their families, and it is very important to be present in the discussion, initiatives and decision-making.”

This was followed by the first panel on “Access to healthcare” – which was coordinated by Kyriakos Souliotis, Professor of Health Policy and Dean of the School of Social and Political Sciences of the University of Peloponnese and Lefteris Thiraios, General Practitioner – Family Physician – Director of the National Health Service – Health Center of Vari – Head of General Management, O.DI.P.Y. S.A. – President of the Athens Medical Society – challenges that patients face during their journey through the healthcare system, from prevention to access to health and innovative treatments. The challenges faced by patients in prevention, diagnosis and holistic treatment, as well as the burdens on them and the health system, were analyzed by: Fani Provi, Scientific Director of the Disability Observatory – Executive of the National Confederation of People with Disabilities, Vasso Vakouftsi, President of the Hellenic Patients’ Association, Paraskevi Michalopoulou, Vice President of the Hellenic Cancer Federation, Kaiti Theochari, Vice President of the Association of Rare Patients of Greece and Christos Georgakopoulos, Director of Market Access SFEE

In a live connection with EFPIA (European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries and Associations), Oana Scarlatescu, Director, Strategic Partnerships and Healthcare Systems, stressed the importance of commitment to the quality of services to patients, in continuous collaboration and constant dialogue with patient associations.

The second panel “Strengthening the active role of patients”, with the same coordinators, focused on the emergence of joint proposals to address the challenges identified in the first panel. The central axis was the strengthening of the role of patient associations, the promotion of policy co-formulation and the importance of innovation for a health system that meets the needs of each patient. The panel was attended by:  Christos Daramilas, Member of the Executive Secretariat of ESAmeA, President of the Panhellenic Federation of Associations of People with Diabetes Mellitus – POSSASDIA, Nikos Dedes, Secretary of the Hellenic Patients’ Association, Giorgos Kapetanakis, President of the Hellenic Cancer Association, Dimitris Athanasiou, Vice President of the  Hellenic Association of Rare Patients of Greece, Aris Angelis, Secretary General of Strategic Planning at the Ministry Health, Chara Kani, Director of the Pharmaceutical Directorate of EOPYY, Michael Himonas,  General Manager of SfEE.

The goal after this discussion is to publish a policy recommendation paper, where patients’ problems can be classified, grouped and evaluated, so that a comprehensive policy proposal can be followed.

In detail, the problems and the proposals/solutions, as highlighted by the two panels:

In the first panel, Kyriakos Souliotis, among other things, noted: “We are participating in a major effort to turn problems into proposals that are meaningful and capable of improving patients’ lives”

Lefteris Thiraios raised the issue of quality, emphasizing the need for effective patient care services, as well as the ability to measure patients’ experiences in how these services are delivered. He also highlighted the importance of ensuring equal access to care—ranging from prevention and referral to aftercare—within a framework of efficient resource management.

Fani Provi, Scientific Director of the Disability Observatory and Executive at the National Confederation of Persons with Disabilities, highlighted the structural problems and inadequacies of the NHS across all categories of needs and benefits. She specifically referred to the findings of a major survey conducted in 2024 by the Confederation, regarding access to healthcare services for people with disabilities, as well as those with chronic and rare diseases. According to the survey, only one in ten citizens reported no difficulty in accessing healthcare services. 39.5% had been deprived of necessary treatment at least once, and 40% required diagnostic tests they were unable to undergo. Similarly, 34% reported being unable to obtain medicines prescribed by their doctors at least once. The most significant challenges for people with disabilities and those with chronic or rare diseases are the high financial burden, long waiting times for diagnostic tests, and the unavailability of medicines. Notably, over the past two years, 80% of respondents said they had reduced spending on basic expenses such as food and clothing to cope with health expenses.

For her part, Vasso Vakouftsi, President of the Hellenic Patients’ Association, said that the inequalities unfortunately remain and are many, so we must focus on the problem to mitigate them. “We do not all receive the same treatments, especially patients residing in the Region. There are huge waiting times in hospitals for appointments. There are even today diagnostic tests that I am not reimbursed for. The late introduction of new and innovative treatments into the system is also quite serious, and this creates inequalities with citizens of other countries. Anyone who cannot afford to cover the tests and their medication can be left out of treatment,” he underlined.

Paraskevi Michalopoulou, Vice President of the Hellenic Cancer Federation, referred to the part of prevention to limit the occurrence of diseases, both primary (lifestyle habits, environmental factors) and secondary diseases, through medical examinations. As she said, the national symptomatic screening program was necessary, but we would also like a national screening for rare diseases and diseases. “In primary prevention, there is a lack of awareness and education of the population and difficulty in changing behaviors (smoking, diet, physical activity). There are also inequalities in access to health services. A big issue is also the sustainability of the programs, so that they can continue.”

“If we do not have an early diagnosis, we will not have an effective treatment,” underlined Kaiti Theochari, Vice President of the Association of Rare Patients of Greece. As she stressed, there is a lack of information for citizens, but also for the education of doctors, combined with the lack of infrastructure, while early diagnosis is a significant challenge. At the same time, there are shortages in specialized diagnostic tools, as well as fragmentation of health services.

Concluding the discussion in the first panel, Christos Georgakopoulos, Market Access Director of SfEE, shared data from this year’s EFPIA study (2020–2023) that raise serious concerns. Of the 173 medicines approved by the EMA, only 75 are available to Greek patients. This means that 55% of new medicines ultimately do not reach the Greek market, while the average delay in patient access to new and innovative treatments has now reached 654 days—two months longer than the previous year. “In 2023, pharmaceutical expenditure in Greece amounted to approximately €7 billion,” he noted, “while our country has the lowest medicine prices in Europe.” Of this amount, €3.5 billion was covered by the pharmaceutical industry through mandatory returns and discounts (clawback and rebate), while the State contributed €2.8 billion, and patient co-payments totaled €700 million. “The pharmaceutical industry is sustaining a system that would otherwise have collapsed without its contribution,” he concluded.

During the second panel discussion, Christos Daramilas, Member of the Executive Secretariat of ESAmeA, President of the Panhellenic Federation of Associations of People with Diabetes Mellitus – POSSASDIA, noted that patients cannot feel that there are better medicines and health services, but that the financial cost is an obstacle to their access to them. “The citizen today, who is chronically ill, cannot pay the cost of services in addition to his insurance contributions. In order for the proposals to improve the quality of life of patients, there must be communication with the State for decision-making and we all need to understand that we are “on the same side”. A new annual action plan from the Ministry of Health could be a solution,” he stressed.

Nikos Dedes, Secretary of the Hellenic Patients’ Association, focused on the need to train healthcare professionals in the field of secondary diagnosis. “There are patients who have suffered a lot because the attending physician did not suspect the disease by seeing the symptoms. There is also a need to inform patients and combat health illiteracy and disinformation. Finally, there can be no comprehensive prevention without funding from the respective programs.”

George Kapetanakis, President of the Hellenic Cancer Association, developing a series of proposals, focused on the fragmentation of hospital care, the need for actions to reduce bureaucracy and control mechanisms for prescribing diagnostic tests, equal access to treatment for all patients, the rationalization of the role of IFET and the provision of more incentives for attracting clinical trials in our country. He said, “We are aware of the problems and we must now look at the solutions.”

Dimitris Athanasiou, Vice President of the Association of Rare Patients of Greece, stressed the need for stable funding, patient education, tailored messages to the public and praised the progress that has been made in our country in the field of prevention. However, there is still a lot of room for improvement in this area, such as prevention in neonatal screening, which should be mandatory.

Aris Angelis, Secretary General of Strategic Planning at the Ministry of Health, said that the Ministry is on the side of patients, but the available resources are limited. “There is an improvement in healthcare funding, but the growth rate of patient needs is greater than the growth rate of available resources. We must prioritize the needs of patients and really invest in new innovative treatments.” “Despite all the problems, our country is above the European average in terms of access to new treatments,” he added. He called on patient associations to report their problems to the Ministry of Health on a regular basis.

Chara Kani, Director of EOPYY’s Drug Division, described clinical trials as an investment for a country like Greece. Through these doctors can be trained, patients gain access to innovative treatments, we can collect information and also the country can develop into a hub for clinical trials.

Finally, Michael Himonas, General Manager of SfEE, noted that the scientific community will be invited to submit their views the next time the event takes place. SfEE’s priority is the redefinition and control of pharmaceutical expenditure. He also referred to additional sources of funding, such as “sin taxes”, which have been implemented in other European countries. In closing, he stressed the need to improve the education of the medical community, through scientific conferences, which are funded by pharmaceutical companies.