SFEE: “This is enough! We demand an appointment with the Prime Minister”

Αthens, September 25, 2012 – The Hellenic Association of Pharmaceutical Companies (SFEE) demands an urgent appointment with the Prime Minister. SFEE points out that the situation in the health sector is out of control, warning that patients and companies have reached the limits of their endurance, facing risks to their very survival.

This was the resolution adopted by today’s General Assembly of SFEE. The representatives of pharmaceutical companies talked about a morbid climate that is increasingly compounded by new, flat measures adopted by the Ministry of Health.

The legislated structural reforms, according to SFEE, can lead to the achievement of the expenditure targets set for the health sector. If the State implements the laws and honours its commitments under the Memorandum, expenditure can be further reduced without jeopardising patients’ lives or the survival of businesses in the sector.

The State owes €1.8 billion to pharmaceutical companies, which effectively have not received any payment since 2006. In the meantime, arrears are accumulating and they are not settled as stipulated by law. Moreover, the settlement of arrears from the 2007-2009 period resulted in the haircut on the pharma bonds, leaving the industry with a loss of €1 billion, for which we demand compensation.

Amid this stifling environment, the government is attempting to implement a mechanism of unilateral and flat returns (claw back), which is mainly characterized by its non transparency. Pharmaceutical companies have appealed before the Council of State, considering the measure as a step too far across the line and contrary to the rule of law and therefore they are not willing to proceed with its payment. Furthermore, they will not continue to supply their products to the State on credit forever. This is not their role. Nor is it the role of the State to breach the law and unlawfully avoid honouring its commitments.

In an ultimate effort to protect healthcare provision to the citizens of this country, employment and investment in the sector, SFEE demands an urgent appointment with the Prime Minister.

The Association strongly believes and knows that both the Health System’s sustainability and social cohesion in our country can be ensured by the existing framework, with some adjustments and reforms.

Supporting material from SFEE’s Press Conference, following the Extraordinary General Assembly of SFEE (25.09.2012)