Respect goes beyond treating patients in fixed quotas - Comodini Cachia

Access to medicines and their continued supply and availability are a priority and more should be done to tackle shortages, said MEP Therese Comodini Cachia. 

Comodini Cachia was speaking during a plenary that took place in Strasbourg during a debate on Council and Commission statements regarding access to medicines in the EU.

She called for solutions driven by the EU with the commitment of governments, pharmaceutical companies and other stakeholders in the health sector so that patients are given the respect they deserve.

Comodini Cachia expressed concern at the disrespect the system shows towards patients as well as medical practitioners when their patients do not have access to medications needed for the diagnosis made, adding that Europe needs to be at the forefront in making medicines more accessible by influencing the cost as well as reduce unnecessary bureaucracy when including medicines in the formulary.

“We need to stop choosing between patients by approving a medicine for a particular condition but not for another,” said Comodini Cachia.

She also stressed that member states need to realise that free medicines cannot continue to be approved on a yearly quota of patients because patients do not come in fixed quotas. 

Comodini Cachia’s statements were made in the context of a study published in October 2014 by the European Association of Hospital Pharmacists, in which Malta tops the list of countries affected most by shortages of medicines on a daily basis and at times lasting for weeks.

The study also showed that Malta was also amongst those countries which spend the most time in tracking down medicines.