Georgiadis on the Innovation Fund: “We are creating a new framework for the benefit of patients”

Adonis Georgiadis said that the authorities is “creating a caller architecture for the payment of patients,” referring to the draught instrumentality connected the constitution of the Innovation Fund, which was approved by bulk ballot successful the Social Affairs Committee and volition beryllium discussed and voted connected successful Parliament time and the pursuing day.

The bill, titled “Establishment of an Innovation Fund – Access of patients to caller medicines and therapies – Improvement of wellness services and different provisions,” received enactment from New Democracy, portion the Communist Party of Greece and Plefsi Eleftherias voted against it. The remaining parties reserved their positions for the plenary debate.

Concluding the committee discussion, Georgiadis stressed that the measure aims to code “a existent problem”: ensuring entree for patients with genuine needs to caller innovative medicines and therapies, which are present being produced astatine a accelerated pace. He warned that without power mechanisms and procedures, “eventually the full fund would disproportionately spell to these treatments, leaving nary wealth for different medicines.”

He explained that the authorities is creating “a exemplary and architecture that already exists successful different European countries,” noting that Greece has mostly copied the Italian model. The survey was funded done the Recovery Fund and carried retired implicit respective months by nationalist wellness prof Mr. Souliotis.

The curate underlined the request for these medicines to beryllium evaluated each 3 years based connected their existent results. If they execute the outcomes promised for patients, they volition stay nether the little clawback category; otherwise, they volition instrumentality to the higher clawback bracket.

Georgiadis dismissed arsenic “a conspiracy mentation scenario” claims that the instauration of the Innovation Fund followed unit from U.S. Ambassador to Athens Kimberly Guilfoyle successful bid to fulfill American pharmaceutical companies seeking little clawback payments.

“For a assertion to marque sense, it indispensable besides marque chronological sense,” helium said. He noted that Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis had announced the volition to found the Fund successful September 2025 during the Thessaloniki International Fair, portion Guilfoyle arrived successful Greece connected November 4, 2025, and Georgiadis himself met her — unneurotic with officials from the Finance Ministry — lone successful March 2026.

“How is it imaginable that thing we announced galore months earlier adjacent gathering Ms. Guilfoyle could beryllium the effect of her wishes?” helium asked.

Georgiadis besides stressed that arsenic Health Minister helium has “never negotiated oregon participated successful thing with pharmaceutical companies,” adding that his visits to the United States had taken spot successful his erstwhile relation arsenic Development Minister and were unrelated to pharmaceuticals.

The curate announced that, done a legislative betterment to beryllium submitted tomorrow, diligent organizations volition besides enactment successful the Innovation Fund committee.

Regarding approvals for medicines, helium noted that objection procedures person been expanded truthful patients tin person treatments done their doctors via the applicable committee, adding: “I motion each determination made by this committee regardless.”

On the caller proviso imposing a general, horizontal prohibition connected the merchantability of concern cannabis angiosperm successful each stores, Georgiadis clarified that the measurement does not interest aesculapian cannabis — “those are medicines” — nor different cannabis-derived products sold successful specialized stores, wherever supervision is imaginable due to the fact that their THC contented is debased and they bash not person narcotic effects.

Responding to disapproval from the pharmaceutical manufacture that Greece has excessively precocious clawback rates, the curate argued that this stems from Greece’s argumentation of maintaining higher notation prices and ensuring easier nationalist entree to medicines than successful galore different countries.

“Pharmaceutical companies are not losing money; each of them are profitable,” helium said, adding that Greece’s nationalist pharmaceutical spending arsenic a stock of GDP is astir the European mean oregon somewhat supra it. “We are not warring either the pharmaceutical manufacture oregon the patients. We are creating a transparent and sustainable system.”

Addressing concerns astir staffing shortages astatine the Nikaia hospital, Georgiadis said the infirmary has already been reinforced and volition beryllium strengthened further done a caller recruitment process. He cited figures showing that the hospital’s fund roseate from €33.3 cardinal successful 2019 to €58.7 cardinal contiguous — an summation of 76%.

Compared to 2019, the infirmary present employs 65 much imperishable doctors, 36 much nonmigratory doctors, 155 further nurses, and 133 much enactment unit members. An further 13 imperishable doc positions person besides been included successful the existent recruitment announcement.

On infirmary mergers, the curate argued that splitting hospitals isolated is simply a mistake. According to him, smaller hospitals payment from being connected to larger ones due to the fact that it becomes easier to capable aesculapian positions. He added that section communities would different request to connection large incentives to pull doctors, with uncertain results.

However, helium noted that the divided betwixt the hospitals of Veria and Naousa was justified due to the fact that they were already equivalent institutions. “Localism should not prevail,” helium said. “The extremity is to person hospitals that really function.”