FPÖ – Kaniak: “The Green Minister is also risking the health of people in Austria when it comes to drug supplies”

2023-12-13 22:31:44

Rauch’s low-level attacks on the FPÖ health spokesman have no basis

Vienna (OTS) – “The Green Minister is also risking the health of people in Austria when it comes to the supply of medicines,” said FPÖ health spokesman NAbg today. Gerhard Kaniak was convincing and supported his criticism by looking at the list of unavailable medicinal products: “At the end of 2019, there were around 250 products on this list. We are currently talking about 800 to 1,000 medications that are in short supply. You and your Green predecessors in office have done nothing about it! Back in the spring, we presented Freedom proposals to avert the looming shortage of antibiotics and painkillers in the winter. But they didn’t take up any of them. Only now do you come around the corner with a model for stocking active ingredients and covering costs. How many of the 1,000 missing substances did you obtain and store active ingredients for? I don’t know of a single one.”

The FPÖ health expert wanted to show that the measures promised by the Green Health Minister are simply not taking place: “We were faced with a collapse in the pharmaceutical supply chain because pharmaceutical wholesalers were no longer able to distribute the cheap drugs to cover their costs given the increased personnel and energy costs. Without appropriate financial compensation and margin adjustment, they will discard drugs. These include painkillers, antibiotics and blood pressure medications, on which large parts of the population depend. Only now is Minister Rauch putting forward a proposal to pay wholesalers a trivial amount – but only for a period of one year, only upon request and involving a huge amount of bureaucracy. The right way would be an immediate adjustment and valorization of the margin system for wholesalers and pharmacies. If these sales margins are not adjusted and costs explode due to inflation, at some point it will no longer be possible. But you, Mr. Minister, are not doing that and are risking the health of the people in this country when it comes to the supply of medication.”

The FPÖ health spokesman also rejected Rauch’s low-level attacks, saying that the opposition’s proposals were just nonsense and that Kaniak was acting as a lobbyist for the pharmaceutical industry: “I have been working as a pharmacist for a decade and a half and I see people’s problems first-hand every day. You, on the other hand, have been Minister of Health for two years and will be retiring next year. Even after you retire, I will continue to work to make the healthcare system better. We often have the same opinion, but we take different paths to achieve these goals. But you obviously didn’t read these suggestions carefully, ignored them and generally described them as nonsense. This is not a factual collaboration. It is the patients in Austria who suffer – and not you later in your pension!”

Another topic discussed in the National Council was a change in the language requirements for doctors to be able to work in Austria. Kaniak saw this as a move by the government to make it easier to recruit foreign doctors. However, it is hardly possible to use doctors from third countries in hospitals because they can hardly communicate with other doctors, nursing staff and patients.

In order to solve the personnel problem in the health system, it is urgently necessary to take the right measures after evaluating the structural plans. “We finally need uniform staffing ratios for hospitals and financial fairness for all employees. The promised care premiums have still not arrived for many, and for others they have been taxed again. To date, there has been no harmonization in this area. We also have the problem that due to a lack of attractive training places, many medical students go abroad straight away. Many laws and proposals such as the new training for specialists in general medicine, the medical law and the amendment to the pharmacy law have been drawn up, but simply do not make it into parliament. And last but not least, this federal government is harassing the elective doctors. Instead of bringing them into the system, they are pushed into private medicine or abroad. This will further increase the staff shortage in the public health system,” listed FPÖ health spokesman NAbg. Gerhard Kaniak points out the many open construction sites in the personnel area.