Ο president of the Pharmaceutical Association of Attica, Kostas Lourantos, in his statements on Monday evening, 22/03, on ATTICA TV, referred to the furore that has erupted regarding the government's decision to make available free of charge through pharmacies, the «personal» coronavirus detection tests, the so-called «self tests».
Mr Lourantos said that last Wednesday, the government proposed that pharmacists should carry out their own rapid tests to their customers, a proposal that was rejected in principle by the board of the association, on the grounds that not all pharmacies have the required space for the procedure. But they came back later, making it a condition that - from an infrastructure point of view - all pharmacists should be able to carry out the tests in question and, of course, on a fee basis, given that for each test, it takes about half an hour.
Two days later, however, they were surprised to hear Deputy Minister to the Prime Minister, Akis Skertsos, to announce that self tests would be available free of charge in pharmacies, but that pharmacists had no information that they were different from rapid tests.And somewhere here - and with confusion spreading - the government, either through anonymous circles or through well-connected correspondents and media, embarked on a campaign to deconstruct Mr Lourantos' personal image, accusing him of asking for 15 euros for self tests.
«There is no worse slander on me, nothing more false than this», Mr. Lourantos exclaimed. «You target a man because you think he's not serving you,» he added. The president of the Pharmaceutical Association of Attica even further exposed the government's mess on the issue, referring to another government official who, in his statements, left room for pharmacists to be paid and for self-tests, in case the citizen cannot do them on his own.
In conclusion, Mr Lourantos said that there is no provision at health level for the safety of both the pharmacist and other customers in case a positive sample is detected through the self-testing procedure, completing the puzzle of the sloppy planning that the government has followed, on an issue that it seems to have chosen as a vehicle to separate enemies and friends.
