49th GIRP AGM focuses on wholesale sector threats: can

The European Association of Pharmaceutical Full-line Wholesalers (GIRP) held its 49th Annual General Meeting on June 2 in Prague, Czech Republic. The GIRP's president, Rene Jenny, in the course of his opening address, welcomed the approximately 150 attendees and a line up of speakers, which included European officials, representatives of industry and health care associations. The Czech Republic's Deputy Health Minister, Pavel Hrobon, represented the government and outlined his views of the country's health care reforms (Marketletter June 9).

Mr Jenny highlighted the role of pharmaceutical full-line wholesalers as the "invisible contributors" of Europe's health care systems. He spoke of "the immense amount of work wholesalers undertake to ensure that pharmacies have continuous and uninterrupted access to the full assortment of vital medicines in a safe way, which is of direct benefit to patients and of crucial importance to Europe's health care systems."

At a specially-convened press conference, Mr Jenny told reporters that "access to medicines for all patients is among GIRP's priorities in the [European Union's] High Level Pharmaceutical Forum for instance. We have been working hard at this level to communicate our views and the contributions our members make in ensuring this access."