A new structure in the distribution of essential medicines by the National Health Service will allow easier and faster access to medicines, especially for chronic patients with pathologies such as diabetes, rheumatological and cardiovascular diseases, increasing the levels of local assistance and ensuring homogeneity on the entire national territory.
The legislative innovations for this reorganization, according to the 2024 Budget Law, were presented today in Rome, at the Ministry of Health during the press conference 'Accessible medicine: legislative innovations.
What changes for the citizen?
"With the revision of the drug distribution process, the possibility is introduced for affiliated pharmacies to dispense drugs, previously available only in hospital facilities, overcoming old rules that are now dated and issued mainly to keep pharmaceutical spending under control", explained the minister of Health Orazio Schillaci.
"With the 2024 financial package we wanted to meet the needs especially of the over 65s, the disabled, and cancer patients who constitute the main users of direct distribution and who ask for an increasingly local healthcare system".
With the new rules, in the case of medicines transferred from "Direct Distribution", citizens will no longer have to go to the hospital pharmacy to collect the medicines, but will be able to do so in the nearest community pharmacy, under the supervision of their family doctor.
Furthermore, in the case of medicines transferred from "Distribution on behalf" to "Agreement Distribution", they will no longer have to wait for the medicine purchased by the local health authority to be ordered and arrive at the pharmacy, but will be able to receive it immediately as it is already present in the relevant community pharmacy.
"AIFA is identifying the selection of drugs intended for transfer from direct or on behalf of distribution to affiliated distribution - explains the Undersecretary of Health Marcello Gemmato - and by the end of March it will draw up the list, as required by the 2024 Budget Law, which it will then be updated on an annual basis".
Satisfaction from Federfarma.
"We welcome the announcement of the imminent revision by AIFA of the PHT handbook to make medicines easily accessible to millions of sick people - concludes Marco Cossolo, president of Federfarma Nazionale - Dispensing in pharmacies has the added value of punctual monitoring of adherence to therapy with clear economic benefits for the NHS".
"The transfer of the dispensing of medicines from the hospital to local pharmacies, as envisaged by the latest budget law, represents an important innovation for the benefit of citizens, which will make it possible to simplify access to medicines, with positive implications on therapeutic continuity and on adherence to treatment", concluded Andrea Mandelli, president of the Federation of Italian Pharmacists' Orders (FOFI).
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