In July, NHS expenditure for drugs in pharmacies recorded a decrease of 258 million euros compared to 2009; on the other hand, hospital expenditure and direct distribution increased, breaking through the ceiling by 1.47 billion euro. The number of tickets paid by the citizen is growing (17.8%), resulting in a revenue of 556.7 million. Net public expenditure in pharmacies decreased (-2.06%; 6.67 billion) compared to 2009, while the number of prescriptions increased by 2.7%.
Il Sole 24 Ore Pag.17 – 24/10/2010
It keeps the expenditure for the purchase of drugs paid by the state in the pharmacy, which actually saves 258 million compared to the budget. Hospital pharmaceuticals and medicines distributed directly by the ASL continue to rise, having already broken through the spending ceiling of 1.478 billion. And the amount of tickets paid by citizens for pills and syrups increases exponentially by 17.8% with a revenue that in just over 200 days has already reached 556.7 million. Although it represents less than a fifth of total public expenditure for health and despite the fact that state-funded pharmacy consumption has been slowing down for some years, state-funded pharmaceutical spending remains a special observation. With the regions churning out, more or less, containment maneuvers and new tickets and with a set of problems that cannot find a solution.
The table on medicines promised since the "health pact" of December 2010 has not produced any results. It almost didn't exist. The industries continue to demand an industrial – and fiscal – policy to develop and revitalize the sector. Meanwhile, the patents expire, generics enter the market but do not grind up enough space. And citizens, in the grip of the public finance crisis, see the free margin increasingly eroded, with effects that are not appreciated by families with medium-low incomes. While in perspective, increasingly expensive pharmaceutical treatments are appearing on the market which will fatally reduce the margins of old-fashioned welfare even further.
It is within a complex and articulated framework that, even in short-term perspectives, the data for the first seven months of the year - from January to July - on consumption for approved pharmaceuticals (in pharmacies) and non-agreed (hospitals and local ) under examination by the board of AIFA, the Italian drug agency. Data that confirms the trend that has already been looming for a few months, but which at this point is considered the most reliable "car" for constructing the final expenditure forecasts for the sector in 2010. Especially in view of what may happen next year, not to mention from when, in 2013, with fiscal federalism, standard healthcare costs will kick in.
Meanwhile, the positive news is the drop in net public expenditure on pharmacies: 6.67 billion in seven months, 141.6 million under the ceiling for a difference of -2.06% compared to the same period of 2009. This, however, while prescriptions continued to grow with an increase of 2.7 percent. And with the share of tickets paid by citizens which recorded +17.8%, evidently playing its part in encouraging the drop in pharmacy spending. The result of the revenue from the tickets should be read under several profiles: since last January they have taken off more harshly in Calabria (where in fact the increase has been dizzying: +61.6%) and from October they will be calculated
