Theologia Houtou
The re-election victory of Donald Trump creates many uncertainties for the European pharmaceutical industry.
The President of PEF (The Panhellenic Union of Pharmaceutical Industries), and member of the Board of Directors of the Association of European Pharmaceutical Industries, “Medicines for Europe”, Mr. Theodore Tryfon stated the following:
“We hope that the election of President Trump, beyond any geopolitical implications, will be a trigger for Europe to finally react faster, adjusting its strategy in the direction of boosting production. As for the pharmaceutical industry, it is clear that after the completion of the actions of the Recovery Fund, there should be a permanent mechanism to accelerate investment in production, research and development.
But surely, just the thought of Trump makes the managers of Roche, Novartis and Co. break a sweat.
The Swiss pharmaceutical industry has a lot to lose if the Trump administration tries to restrict drug imports, at a time when it makes more than half of its pharmaceutical sales in the US. The industry is also threatened with difficulties due to falling drug prices in the US.
In addition, Trump has announced that he will impose high import tariffs of up to 60 percent specifically on Chinese goods. This could have indirect effects on the European market. In this case, China will focus even more on other markets and Europe will become even more interesting for China. That would mean more domestic competition for European and German companies as China tries to make up for the loss of the US by increasing exports to Europe.
The pharmaceutical industry plays a leading role today, with its strong position influencing many of the strategic decisions at both national and global levels. But its practices, along with the close connection it has with government agencies in recent years, have caused concern as the health and safety of the citizen is often at stake. In the effort to serve economic interests, we see policies being promoted that facilitate large multinational pharmaceutical companies, without always taking into account the quality or possible side effects of pharmaceutical products. They took advantage of this situation, strengthening their influence by gaining more freedom in their business practices. This strengthened their momentum internationally as well, as companies were also affected by these new policies, which mainly favoured big corporate interests over people’s safety.
Policies that allow the promotion of unsafe products for the profit of pharmaceutical companies pose a threat to public health and exacerbate the problem of lack of transparency and social responsibility in the industry.
Minimizing government intervention benefits pharmaceutical companies, especially in matters of regulation and price control, so they promote faster approvals of drugs by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) – a move that, while reducing red tape, has led to products with less stringent testing. The result was the release of drugs that had not been fully tested for potential side effects, raising concerns about patient safety.
With these policies, the pharmaceutical industry risks turning into an industry where safety and quality come second to profit. Policies that allow the promotion of unsafe products for the profit of pharmaceutical companies pose a threat to public health and worsen the problem of lack of transparency and social responsibility in the industry.
The health system should primarily aim to protect citizens and not to serve profit-making interests. In such a state, the safety and well-being of citizens will be above any economic return. Our vision includes policies that promote the development of medicines that are friendly to the human body, without the extreme effects seen today, and the development of independent research programs.
Upon my research on politicians’ statements, I only found in the Policy Statements of the Political Body of the “Hellenic Assembly” (Ellinon Syneleysis), that health is an obligation of the State (Politeia) to provide free of charge to its citizens and a primary sector for the Greek State (Ellene Politeia).
A plan for a central factory will bear the responsibility towards the State with unlimited potential to create other regional factories.
The drugs that will be manufactured, apart from being of natural origin, which is the most ideal, will be a mixture of natural and technical pharmacology with the fewest contraindications, so that they have the best results for patients.
It is important that pharmaceutical policy be redefined with a social conscience so that medical and pharmaceutical care remains safe, meaningful and fairly accessible for all of us.
Translated by
Themis Ioakimidis
