In a strong and sharp tone, Health Minister Adonis Georgiades defended Greece’s strategy on pharmaceutical policy, responding to criticisms of the dpublic expenditure and the operation of the system, in his remarks at the “11th Delphi Economic Forum 2026“.
He stressed that the prescription process is essentially determined by the doctors , while the state is obliged to cover the treatments prescribed.
Referring to the management of pharmaceutical spending, he described practices that he said, lead to cost shifting outside of closed budgets through new drug indications, resulting in a burden on the system without corresponding fiscal control. In this context, he rejected simplistic attribution of blame, noting that reality is complex and often misinterpreted.
At the same time, he disputed the “myth” that Greece spends less than other European countries on medicines, arguing that the country is close to or even above the European average as a percentage of GDP. He also stressed that Greece provides a particularly high level of access to drug treatments, often faster and more widely than other European health systems, including oncology treatments and coverage for the uninsured.
Greece provides a particularly high level of access to drug treatments, often faster and more widely than other European health systems. Georgiades noted that the challenge for the health system is to balance access to innovation with fiscal sustainability.
The Health Minister also referred to the intense international pressures that Europe is under in the area of pharmaceutical policy, noting that developments in the US and Asia are radically reshaping the global environment for innovation and investment.
As he pointed out, the European Union initially risked adopting regulations that would undermine the attractiveness of pharmaceutical innovation, which he said was avoided, with a decisive contribution from Greece. At the same time, he stressed that critical challenges remain open, such as the need to revise or postpone European directives that may increase the cost of medicines and affect their availability.
At the European level, the minister pointed out that the continent has lost significant ground in research and development of new medicines compared to the US and China, a fact that requires an immediate strategic turnaround aimed at enhancing competitiveness and attracting investment. By way of illustration, he said that in early 2000 Europe accounted for two-thirds of the research and invention of new molecules compared to the United States of America and was well ahead of China and India. Twenty-five years later America is now about 7 times ahead of Europe. Second is China which is about 2/3 of America. In other words, Europe has lost a huge share of global competitiveness in 25 years.
For his part, the president of the SFEE Olympios Papadimitriou, referring to Greece’s pharmaceutical policy, noted that market representatives acknowledge the efforts made, but point out that the logic of closed budgets remains unilateral: the state defines what to spend, without a corresponding provision for what is actually required to be covered. The result is increasing clawbacks, in some cases reaching unsustainable levels for individual drugs, creating a risk of withdrawal from the market.
At the same time, pressure is increasing as innovation accelerates and new, expensive drugs keep entering the system. Any reforms that are underway are estimated to take time to pay off, while spending continues to “run”.
Referring to European pharmaceutical policy, he said that in an environment of intense global competition, Europe appears to be losing ground in the battle of pharmaceutical innovation, with the US and – now – China accelerating strongly. Interventions in the context of the review of European pharmaceutical legislation, while having averted the worst, do not seem to be enough to reverse the continent’s downward trajectory, he said.
The figures are indicative: China has already moved into second place globally in the development of new drug molecules, leaving Europe in third, and now leads in research and development investment with €109 billion, compared with €71 billion for the US and just €52 billion for Europe. This picture illustrates a clear loss of competitiveness, with no convincing European response so far.
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