Cofarca bets for evolution without free competition in the pharmaceutical sector - La Provincia
"Change no, evolve yes, no doubt". The president of the Canarian Pharmaceutical Cooperative (Cofarca), Manuel Valido Torres, ruled out on Monday the application of free competition in the sector to the current operation of the regulated model in Spain.
Before starring in the day 40 years of the Spanish Constitution, 40 years of changes in the pharmacy, held during the afternoon at the Poema del Mar aquarium in the Gran Canaria capital, the head of Cofarca rejected, therefore, the thesis in favor of the introduction of the market economy in the medicine business defended from different areas such as, for example, the academic. In a Opinion article published last Sunday In the framework of the thirtieth anniversary of the University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Juan Luis Jiménez, professor of the Department of Applied Economic Analysis, listed the research conducted on business rivalry over three decades and anticipated upcoming work to "fight against the restrictions "with the aim of" preserving the efficiency of the markets and thus avoiding the welfare losses that the lack of competition generates, which are broad and diverse, as for example in the unjustified maintenance of the monopoly of pharmacies in Spain"
Before the recurring question about free competition, "I always say the same: to which countries do we want to appear?", Manuel Valido replied before recalling that "example is given to large states, such as the Nordic, but in Sweden there is a pharmacy for every 7,500 inhabitants and in Spain, one for every 2,100 people, 98% of the municipalities have an office, therefore, the model serves and works, also with some of the cheapest medicines in Europe with Greece and Malta " . In the opinion of the president of Cofarca, a company with more than 80 years of existence and an annual turnover of 245 million euros thanks to daily sales of 140,000 units, "if it is true that all sectors have to evolve, we do not need a change in itself, we have a great model, close and accessible, we are the country with the most OECD pharmacy offices [Organización para la Cooperación y el Desarrollo Económicos] and it shows a lot in patient satisfaction. "
In short, "is a model that has to evolve, towards the needs that demand society, but should not change," said Valido Torres, without specifying the changes, along with the Minister of Health of the Canary Islands Government, José Manuel Baltar , before the opening of the meeting by the regional president, Fernando Clavijo. Precisely, the head of public health in the Archipelago congratulated the president of the pharmaceutical cooperative in the Canary Islands for the "scope of its technological level, worth knowing by all citizens, because it supplies the eight islands in minimum times, ensuring the presence of medicines throughout the territory.
Interoperable electronic recipe
In addition, José Manuel Baltar took the opportunity to thank the professionals of the sector in the Canary Islands for the "Total success at the national level" achieved with the pioneering implementation of the interoperable electronic recipe with Extremadura, a system already almost completely extended to the other autonomous communities.
In fact, "only one community does not have the interoperable electronic prescription implanted, it already works in all the others and, as we could observe this summer, with a good level", said the Regional Minister after highlighting the collaboration given to the project by the pharmaceutical colleges and distribution companies in the two island provinces, a cooperation extended to "several initiatives" within the framework of the document Commitment to improve public health in the Canary Islands. Among other responsible for the sector, the presidents of the General Council of Pharmaceutical Colleges of Spain, Jesús Aguilar, and of the homologous entity in the Canary Islands, Manuel Ángel Galván, participated in the conference.
