In pharmacies, tests, vaccines and telemedicine: the double operation that expands services

At the Risk Management Forum in Arezzo, the focus was on the approval of the Simplification Bill, in addition to the recent go-ahead by the Council of Ministers of the draft bill-delegation on the Consolidated Pharmaceutical Law, which should be operational in 2026: a double operation that will bring strong innovation to the entire sector.

For the undersecretary of the Ministry of Health, Marcello Gemmato, the aim is to make the sector more accessible and efficient. "The main simplifications that have just been approved," he explained, "include the extension of the validity of prescriptions to one year, the qualification of pharmacies to dispense prescription drugs, and the possibility of providing health services in premises separate from the pharmacy itself, thus favouring greater integration of pharmacists in the territorial health network. The Government's intention is to "ensure fairer and more timely access to medicines, more efficient monitoring and control of pharmaceutical expenditure, and a strengthening of the role of territorial pharmacies as proximity health centres".

In turn, the delegation of powers provides for action on the regulation of the distribution of medicines, aimed at encouraging the in-house production of active ingredients and excipients and ensuring fair and continuous access, particularly for patients suffering from rare or chronic diseases.

Roberto Giotti, president of Federfarma Arezzo, which organised the conference as part of the Risk Forum, expressed, on behalf of the category, his appreciation for the measures that also define "the central role of the service pharmacy beyond experimentation", and that "will certainly produce an important simplification of the pharmaceutical profession and, as a result, of pharmaceutical and territorial health care, replacing outdated regulations. In this way, medicines will become more accessible and proximity to all citizens will be guaranteed'.

Then the Round Table: "Territorial Assistance Reform - The role of service pharmacies beyond experimentation", with speeches by, among others, Silvia Velo (director of the Health, Welfare and Social Cohesion Structure of the Tuscany Region) and Marco Cossolo (president of Federfarma nazionale). "The simplification measure," explained Cossolo, "significantly expands the services that can be provided by pharmacies, simplifying access to monitoring and prevention services for millions of citizens. The new services, from tests to vaccinations to telemedicine, "will also have a positive impact on the SSN: the new pharmacy services will, in fact, lighten the workload of public health facilities, helping, among other things, to reduce waiting lists".