Austria's Pharmig supports health reforms

The Association of the Austrian Pharmaceutical Industry (Pharmig) has responded to proposals by the government's Audit Office President Josef Moser for health care reforms, aimed at saving 2.9 billion euros ($4.0 billion). Pharmig secretary general Jan Oliver Huber complained that "constructive suggestions are rejected from the beginning by some interest groups" within the health care system. Dr Huber said: "what I miss in this whole discussion is the necessary objectivity with which all participants should communicate." He added that "it would be much more meaningful if all partners in the health service sat around a table, in order to discuss necessary structural changes."

Among the problems listed by the drug industry representative was that, "in our health service, there is too much federalism." Health care management needs to be centralized in order to coordinate financing, Dr Huber continued. The urgency of reform, Pharmig believes, comes from the aging population of Austria and the ensuing stretching of health care capacity when faced with accelerating demand.

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