The Pharmaceutical Market: Greece

Summary

As part of the EU, access to the Greek pharmaceutical market is governed by EU directives concerning pharmaceutical regulations and registration. Regarding patent protection and intellectual property rights, the Greek policy follows a similar pattern to other member states and is monitored by the National Organisation of Medicines (EOF).

In Greece, there is universal coverage for pharmaceutical care. The main responsibility for planning and implementation of pharmaceutical policy lies with the Ministry of Health and Social Solidarity. Several other Ministries also share responsibilities for pharmaceutical issues. Pricing resides with the Ministry of development. The Ministry of Employment and Social Protection supervises social security organisations, and the Ministry of Economy & Financer is responsible for reimbursing medicinal products for civil servants.

In common with other EU nations, price controls and reimbursement policies are a source of much contention between government and the pharmaceutical industry. Recent changes to the pharmaceutical pricing policy has changed the pricing structure of many pharmaceuticals; the introduction of reference pricing has ensured that prices are slightly higher but the prices are still some of the lowest in the EU. Changes to the reimbursement structure has allowed the financially disadvantaged and those with specific conditions to carry on having fully reimbursed products, although reimbursement has now been scrapped for every product that is available without a prescription.

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