SFEE meeting with Patient Associations (Patient Think Tank)
SFEE Press Release
SFEE meeting with Patient Associations (Patient Think Tank)
The European Medicines Strategy should support innovation and patient access. Gradual improvement of funding in Greece is necessary.
Athens, 15 September 2023.- As part of the regular briefings of the Hellenic Association of Pharmaceutical Companies (SFEE) with representatives of Patients’ Associations, another meeting of the SFEE Patient Think Tank was held on Thursday, September 14, 2023, at a central hotel in Athens. At the meeting, which was attended by more than 60 representatives of Patients’ Associations and executives of the Association and its member companies, the common demand of all for the creation of a patient-centered sustainable public health system was highlighted.
SFEE representatives referred to developments in European and Greek pharmaceutical policy. Among others, the results of EFPIA’s most recent study (Patients W.A.I.T. Indicator Survey), on waiting for patient access to innovative treatments, as well as the revision of European pharmaceutical legislation and the challenges it will bring to innovation and access, were presented.
In the interactive and substantive discussion that followed, views were exchanged and various current issues were analyzed, such as medicine shortages, public pharmaceutical funding in Greece, which lags behind other European countries, as well as opportunities to improve the system through digital tools and more effective controls. The representatives of the Patients’ Associations highlighted the many problems of chronically ill patients, their concern about their access to new treatments, but also the impact that the revision of European pharmaceutical legislation will have on Greek patients. The protection of the patent ecosystem of innovative medicines, as well as the strengthening of clinical trials in our country, emerged as key demands on the part of patients, who asked SFEE to continue its efforts to communicate these issues to the political leadership and the Competent Authorities.
Finally, in the context of the meeting, both representatives of Patients’ Associations and representatives of the pharmaceutical industry stressed that it is necessary to exchange views and ideas and strengthen two-way communication channels.
