The report on the events concerning the Ministry of Health’s drug warehouses appears to indicate investigations in two directions.
warehouses were flooded on 18th March due to severe weather conditions.
As stated by Health Minister Michalis Damianos in his statements to Phileleftheros although the content of the report is still under study, it seems that this leads to two types of responsibilities, if, of course, what has emerged so far is substantiated.”
The first direction “concerns the period during which the first agreement was made between the Ministry of Health and a private entity, and how this agreement was subsequently renewed without final approval for the substance.”
The second “concerns the management of the warehouses in the aftermath and when the Ministry of Health was aware of the existing problems. That is, were efforts made to solve these problems? Why were these problems not solved, etc.”
At this moment, the Health Minister noted, “We cannot say that we have reached final conclusions. I personally, and the Auditor General, to whom we have sent the report, are studying it because the content may raise issues falling under his jurisdiction.”
In fact, “these are evidence because the report includes this evidence, correspondence, documents on what happened, what did not happen, and all related matters. So, it’s not an easy matter.”
However, he stressed, “No one can be without responsibility in this matter. But we need to see if these responsibilities are collective or individual. When we complete the study of the report and have a clear and substantiated picture, we will decide the direction or directions we will take.”
Regarding the amount of damage caused by the flood, Damianos stated that “the accounting cost is what has been officially announced and amounts to just over €850,000. However, we are in continuous contact and consultation with pharmaceutical companies to replace the stocks that have been destroyed at a lower cost or even at zero cost. This effort is underway, and we will see where we end up in the next period.”
The Health Minister commented on the insurance coverage of the drugs stored in the specific warehouses, emphasizing that “as for the drugs belonging to the Ministry of Health, we must say that the state, in general, does not insure. Therefore, neither should the Ministry of Health have insured its own drugs. Regarding the flood, we can say that the cost of the drugs destroyed and belonging to the Ministry of Health is around €50,000.”
Regarding the Health Insurance Organization and the State Health Services Organization (on behalf of which drugs were stored in the Ministry of Health’s warehouses), the Health Minister revealed that they had received letters from the Ministry some time ago to proceed with the necessary procedures.
It is recalled that the Ministry of Health asked the State Health Services Organization to secure its own storage space by 30th June to transfer its stocks there.
The Health Insurance Organization is proceeding with different procedures, and the drugs belonging to it will be stored by the importing companies.
