Medicines are Second-highest Most Expensive in EU - Report

Medicines bought at pharmacies on the island are the second-most expensive in the EU, says a report in Phileleftheros, citing a Ministry of Health study.

The results of the study are disputed by the Pharmacists Association. The head of the association Avgoustinos Potamitis said that the Ministry of Health is in cahoots with two pharmaceutical companies who are not members of the Association, and which sell medicines to the government at high prices.

The public can draw its own conclusions, said Potamitis in comments to state radio, implying that the ministry is somehow attacking the prices charged by 850 licensed pharmacies around the island in order to deflect interest away from its own practices.

At the beginning of April, Minister of Health Stavros Malas said he is investigating the cartel-like implications of shockingly high prices of pharmaceuticals like Panadol which in some cases are over 300 percent higher than other EU countries.

Panadol is being sold in Cyprus for 3,42 euros, compared to 0,65 euros in Greece, while Buscopan is priced at 4,24 euros compared to 1,09 euros in Greece. Prostate cancer medicine Oliclinomel sells for 217,03 euros in Cyprus - and 32,31 euros in Greece.

Pharmaceutical prices are set by the Ministry of Health, said Malas, and the ministry is responsible for monitoring them in the health sector.

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