Drugs, Gemmato on antidiabetes glifozine: "Easier access and less waiting"

Undersecretary on the transition from direct distribution to pharmacies and the stop of therapeutic plans, 'medical bureaucracy will also decrease'

"With the green light from the Board of Directors of AIFA, the Italian Medicines Agency, "to the transition of the new generation of antidiabetics based on gliphozine from direct distribution and on behalf of the recipient to dispensing in local pharmacies, we have reached an important milestone in facilitating access to innovative drugs, especially for chronic patients and the elderly. Another significant change is the elimination of the Therapeutic Plans, which will lead to a reduction in waiting lists and a lightening of the bureaucratic burden for doctors". This is what the Undersecretary of Health, Marcello Gemmato, declared in a note.

The measure is part of the process of reclassifying medicines provided for by the 2024 Budget Law, which has already seen the transfer of gliptin-based antidiabetics to pharmacies. "We are talking about a shift in distribution from hospital pharmacies to contracted pharmacies, present throughout the country and active every day of the year - adds Gemmato - Today we are continuing on the path to improve access to medicines while ensuring the sustainability of the health system. Thanks to the negotiations conducted by Aifa with the manufacturing companies, significant price reductions have been obtained that should ensure the invariance of spending for the National Health Service".

With the new structure, patients, as explained, will no longer have to go to hospital pharmacies or wait days to collect their drugs, while doctors will be relieved of the burden of treatment plans, avoiding visits prescribed only for administrative purposes. "This simplification - concludes Gemmato - will reduce waiting lists caused by bureaucratic procedures, improving adherence to particularly effective therapies. We are talking about drugs that not only control blood sugar, but lower blood pressure, promote weight loss, prevent hypoglycemic crises and protect the heart and kidneys. Clinical benefits that from tomorrow will be more easily accessible to everyone".