Upholding the sustainable operation of Greek pharmacies and safeguarding the integrity of pharmacists who offer high quality services to Greek patients, is a strategic priority for ELPEN, the leading Greek pharmaceutical industry. This was underlined to pharmacists in Thessaloniki, at the event hosted by the Consumer Health Care Business Unit, on Monday, September 15. The event was oganized under the auspices of the Pharmaceutical Association of Thessaloniki (FSTH). The success was evident, as the event attracted great interest with more than 250 participant pharmacists. In this context, Mr. Dionissis Evgenidis, Secretary General of FSTH, delivered his address. Representing ELPEN were Mr. Theodore Tryfon, Vice President; Mr. Vassilis Pentafragas, Corporate Affairs Director; Mr. Ioannis Roufos, Director of Northern Greece; Mrs. Kitty Kyziridou, Consumer Health Care Director, and Mrs. Efi Thoma, Assistant Product Manager of the Respiratory Division. From the medical community there was Mrs. Magda Tsolaki, Neuropsychiatrist, Professor of Neurology at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, and Chair of the Greek Federation of Alzheimer's Disease.
In his speech, ELPEN's Vice President, Mr. Theodore Tryfon, stressed: "At the present stage, the sustainable operation of Greek pharmacies is at risk due to the fact that drug prescriptions are entirely and solely based on the active ingredients' International Nonproprietary Names (INN), a measure that is expected to shrink the profit margin of the Greek pharmacist to even below €1! Implementing this particular measure will favor massive influx of foreign, multinational generic drugs, leading to many negative consequences for the domestic pharmaceutical industry, as well as for Greece, as it will result in significant losses in employment, in investment in Research & Development, in state revenues, while it is certain that it will lead to capital outflow abroad, cutbacks in medical training expenditure, and a further burden on pharmaceutical expenditure due to the increase of on-patent drug prescriptions."
In the same context, ELPEN's Corporate Affairs Director V. Pentafragas noted that: "The debate over pharmaceutical expenditure has a one-dimensional focus on the price of generic drugs, since the aim is to distract from the crux of the problem regarding expenditure cutbacks. To extend the use of generic drugs, three necessary conditions must be implemented: 1. Prescribing generics should be the result of a conscious choice made by the doctor; 2. Pharmacists should suffer no loss, and 3. Generics should win the trust of the insured. The Greek pharmaceutical industry has the opportunity to meet these requirements, given that it produces high quality drugs."
On her part, Consumer Health Care Director, Mrs. K. Kyziridou supported that: "The ulterior goal of our work with pharmacists is to supply advanced scientific services to Greek patients, who have suffered from inefficient policies in recent years, and also to pharmacies, which have come under severe strain in 2014.
Ms. E. Thoma, Assistant Product Manager of the Respiratory Division, proudly presented the Greek, proprietary, patented worldwide, innovative dry powder inhaler: Elpenhaler®, invented by ELPEN's Chairman and Founder, Mr. Dimitrios Pentafragas.
Ms. Thoma also made reference to "ANASA", a clinical trial study with the objective to record patient satisfaction with inhaler devices. The study reported a distinct superiority of the novel inhaler device Elpenhaler®, which attained the highest average ranking overall among the other inhalers. The "ANASA" study involved 560 adult participants suffering from asthma, and 561 participants suffering from Chronic Obstructive Respiratory Disease (COPD), in 79 different centers.
The event was completed with the keynote speaker Ms. M. Tsolaki, Neuropsychiatrist, who stated the importance of taking steps to prevent the decline in intellectual clarity and memory, one of the most common problems faced by healthy adults today, noting that: "specialized dietary supplements for memory, such as NeuroAge®, can offer satisfactory preventive solutions that effectively enhance concentration, memory, learning, and rational thought."