A series of unfortunate circumstances vividly underscored the gap in service for severely ill patients at the pharmacies of the National Organization for Healthcare Services Provision (EOPYY). This morning’s incident, involving the shutters being down at a key pharmacy (near the “Agios Savvas” Cancer Hospital and the metro station), was the culmination of a long-standing neglect of EOPYY pharmacies, with a direct negative impact on citizens. The long queues and hours of suffering outside these special pharmacies have been a known reality for years, particularly for those who must endure them to receive their treatments.

According to reports, this morning saw a combination of circumstances involving the three pharmacists at the EOPYY pharmacy on Alexandras Avenue (illness, a medical appointment, and delays), which rendered the pharmacy unable to serve patients in need of expensive medications for severe conditions. The Minister of Health personally intervened, using a locksmith and calling in other staff members to fulfill prescriptions for the roughly 30 people waiting outside. Images of Adonis Georgiadis serving critically ill patients himself were striking and deepened the already grave concerns about the operation of EOPYY pharmacies.

Regardless of the reasons for the pharmacists’ absence, the reasonable question arises about the management of EOPYY pharmacies by the organization. What is their plan for handling dysfunctions and daily issues that could disrupt these critical services? Is there a responsible manager for each pharmacy? Who holds the keys? Why does the organization lack real-time awareness of what is happening at each pharmacy?

According to information from the organization and the Ministry of Health, the EOPYY administration and the relevant pharmaceutical directorate were not informed of the simultaneous absence of all three pharmacists. However, this does not negate the fact that EOPYY pharmacies represent a chronic problem in the country’s healthcare services.

Despite serving approximately 120,000 patients monthly, they are understaffed, resulting in massive queues. Moreover, in many cases—such as the Alexandras Avenue pharmacy—patients are forced to wait outside, exposed to cold and rain in winter or extreme heat in summer. A recent call for auxiliary staff recruitment at EOPYY pharmacies, which included 70 positions, attracted only about 15 applicants, with no follow-up effort to increase staffing.

EOPYY Pharmacies Serve Patients with Chronic and Life-Threatening Conditions

Patients with cancer, multiple sclerosis, kidney diseases, transplants, or thalassemia rely on EOPYY pharmacies to obtain their medications. Additionally, some high-cost treatments, such as those for assisted reproduction, are distributed through these pharmacies.

EOPYY operates 38 pharmacies nationwide, according to organizational data. In Athens and Piraeus, there are eight pharmacies, with the rest in major cities. However, their number remains insufficient to cover the needs of the entire eligible population. There are also 70 distribution points collaborating with EOPYY pharmacies, such as health centers and regional EOPYY offices, to serve remote and island areas. For instance, a patient living in northern Greece may have to travel to Thessaloniki, Katerini, Kavala, or Evros, depending on their location. If they cannot be served for any reason after traveling such distances, they must return empty-handed.

High-cost medications for severe conditions were distributed through neighborhood pharmacies until 2010. However, when efforts were made to reduce pharmacists’ profit margins, the Panhellenic Pharmaceutical Association objected, and the distribution of these medications shifted to EOPYY pharmacies.

After today’s incident, the Minister of Health apologized to citizens. “I pledge that this disgrace will not happen again, and we will find an immediate solution,” he wrote in a post. Speaking to the media, he added that measures would soon be announced to end the “shameful queues” outside EOPYY pharmacies.

Home Delivery of Medications and Distribution Through Private Pharmacies

The reintroduction of some high-cost medications (F.Y.K.) to neighborhood pharmacies is part of the Health Ministry’s plan to ease the burden on the “shameful queues” outside EOPYY pharmacies.

Discussions have been ongoing, with pharmacists arguing that even if they handled half the prescriptions filled at EOPYY pharmacies, the problem would be resolved. However, the involved parties have yet to decide which high-cost medications will be redirected to private pharmacies.

“The suffering of these vulnerable groups, who absolutely need their medications, cannot be addressed within the existing framework of distribution through EOPYY pharmacies. Utilizing the established network of 11,000 private pharmacies, uniformly distributed across the country, is essential. The government’s promises about ‘High-Cost Medications from Neighborhood Pharmacies,’ aiming to spare vulnerable patients from hardship, must be implemented immediately. The priority must solely be the protection and dignity of patients,” the Panhellenic Pharmaceutical Association (PFS) stated today in response to the unprecedented morning incident.

Meanwhile, part of the planned interventions is already under review and involves expanding the measure of home delivery for high-cost medications. Currently, around 2,000 patients receive their medications at home each month, primarily those with cystic fibrosis, pulmonary hypertension, thalassemia, sickle cell anemia, and motor neuron disease. EOPYY has launched a tender to find a private provider capable of delivering high-cost medications to 110,000–120,000 patients—the number served by EOPYY pharmacies monthly.

EOPYY administration also apologized to insured individuals for this morning’s incident. In an announcement, EOPYY director Theano Karpodini attempted to justify the unjustifiable, stating that the pharmacy in question does not dispense medications to oncology patients and attributed the increased traffic at EOPYY pharmacies to delays in the electronic prescription system due to… a cyberattack.

“The regular service hours begin at 8:00 a.m., and as soon as the administration was informed of the pharmacy’s inability to operate at the scheduled time, it immediately instructed pharmacists from the central office to go to the pharmacy. With the assistance of the regional director to whom the pharmacy reports, who promptly intervened to ensure the pharmacy’s opening, operations were fully restored by 10:00 a.m., and insured individuals were served,” Karpodini noted, adding that “the increased traffic observed in certain pharmacies in recent days is due to delays in the response time of electronic applications following the recent cyberattack on the SYZEFXIS network and the new e-prescription system, leading to delays in service and causing some insured individuals to visit today as well.”

The Panhellenic Pharmaceutical Association reiterated that the current distribution framework does not address the hardships faced by vulnerable groups entirely dependent on their medications. They called for the government’s promises about high-cost medications from neighborhood pharmacies to finally become a reality, emphasizing that protecting patients’ dignity is paramount.