“I reiterate my opposition to the inclusion of health care charges in the economic maneuver being studied for the month of July. It is another thing to think strategically about the definition of a shared and concerted system of cost-sharing, in a logic of citizen responsibility towards the management of public health expenditure with a view to a fair and supportive universalism”. This was stated by the Minister of Health, Livia Turco, on the sidelines of yesterday's meeting with the Federation of Pharmacists' Orders (Fofi).
The meeting was the occasion for an initial discussion with the pharmacists, also offering Fofi the opportunity to put forward some proposals, including more careful pharmacovigilance, greater attention to widespread home assistance, the
presence of defibrillators in pharmacies and advice to rationalize public pharmaceutical spending.
With regard to expenditure, the president of Fofi, Giacomo Leopardi, explained that the pharmacists' proposals also concern effective education in the use of the drug to reduce its indiscriminate use, as well as an effective development of the use of generics to which, Leopardi adds, "we confirm the willingness and willingness to contribute to their greater diffusion". But even more controls and, Leopardi added, the possibility of providing for "the citizen's responsibility also in economic terms with forms of co-payment, also keeping exemptions under control and safeguarding the socially weak".
According to the president of Fofi, in fact, absolute gratuity encourages consumption”, so much so that the suspension of the co-payment in 2001 led to a 37% increase in drug consumption.
For her part, Livia Turco expressed a “very sincere harmony, above all on the question that is closest to my heart, that of the use of such a widespread reality in our country as pharmacies, which are a garrison of the public health system. I believe that the point of great convergence between my way of seeing things, the program that I have to implement and your elaboration, is that of putting the citizen, his dignity and his right to health at the centre".
And on the question of drugs in the supermarket, the minister said she does not have an ideologically opposed position, but "we will set up a table to discuss with Minister Bersani, with drug policy and with all the players. And that will be the venue where the decision will be made”.
The meeting was the occasion for an initial discussion with the pharmacists, also offering Fofi the opportunity to put forward some proposals, including more careful pharmacovigilance, greater attention to widespread home assistance, the
presence of defibrillators in pharmacies and advice to rationalize public pharmaceutical spending.
With regard to expenditure, the president of Fofi, Giacomo Leopardi, explained that the pharmacists' proposals also concern effective education in the use of the drug to reduce its indiscriminate use, as well as an effective development of the use of generics to which, Leopardi adds, "we confirm the willingness and willingness to contribute to their greater diffusion". But even more controls and, Leopardi added, the possibility of providing for "the citizen's responsibility also in economic terms with forms of co-payment, also keeping exemptions under control and safeguarding the socially weak".
According to the president of Fofi, in fact, absolute gratuity encourages consumption”, so much so that the suspension of the co-payment in 2001 led to a 37% increase in drug consumption.
For her part, Livia Turco expressed a “very sincere harmony, above all on the question that is closest to my heart, that of the use of such a widespread reality in our country as pharmacies, which are a garrison of the public health system. I believe that the point of great convergence between my way of seeing things, the program that I have to implement and your elaboration, is that of putting the citizen, his dignity and his right to health at the centre".
And on the question of drugs in the supermarket, the minister said she does not have an ideologically opposed position, but "we will set up a table to discuss with Minister Bersani, with drug policy and with all the players. And that will be the venue where the decision will be made”.
From "Il Scalpel" of 22/06/06
