The Regional Secretary for Health said today that the Ponta Delgada hospital intends to ensure the quality of pharmaceutical services in order to ensure the safety and traceability of single dose medicines.

In response to the proposal made by the Chairman of the Pharmacists' Association, who defended the conduction of an external audit, Miguel Correia said that the Region has nothing to oppose; by the contrary this suggestion is in line with the claim, as previously expressed, to request certification of this practice by the a competent authority.

Regarding the Chairman's proposal made to carry out an economic assessment after one year of the implementation of single dose medicines, the Secretary for Health said that this assessment is already planned.

"We are adopting single dose in the Azores because we believe it will bring savings in terms of reimbursement and it will also benefit people; therefore, it is fundamental to make an assessment to better understand the impact of this measure," said Michael Correia.

Regarding the payments to suppliers, the Secretary for Health reiterated that the Government has already paid 14 million Euros to hospitals in order to speed up urgent payments and ensure the continuity of services and regular supply of medicines.
There must be a good understanding between suppliers and hospitals, which are their clients "and they have been good clients for many years."

The Secretary for Health stressed that "good sense is very important at this moment, which is a difficult time for everyone," adding that it would "very wise" not to take extreme positions.