Cypriot government "inert and provocative"

Nicos Nouris, head of the Pancyprian Pharmaceutical Association, has told a press conference that the Cypriot Health Ministry is acting illegally and in a high-handed manner when it comes to pharmaceuticals. The Association has asked the Commission for Protection of Competition for help in dealing with a government that is also "inert and provocative."

The row reflects a deteriorating relationship since July. The Cypriot government has not enforced an agreement between state hospitals and private pharmacies. After receiving from the Association a European Union survey about its drug action plan to deal with a possible bird flu pandemic, the government completed the form without either contacting the Association or informing the public about its plans. According to a report in the Cyprus Mail newspaper, the Health Ministry has also allowed irregular purchase, provision and distribution methods to patch up the gaps it has created with its policies.

Among other violations of law with which Mr Nouris has charged the Health Ministry were: providing drugs in a manner that constitutes the movement of drugs without a license; before changes in the law were made, allowing drugs to be distributed without appropriate labeling; allowing pharmaceuticals to be provided in bulk and in retail, without publishing price lists; and adopting a system of brief procedures solely for avoiding the enforcement of the law's provisions.