Interview with Giancarlo Visini

Are there any features which distinguish the Italian pharmacy sector from that of other European countries?

"Firstly, Italian legislation recognizes the rural pharmacy as having a specific status, performing a public service within the community. As President of Sunifar, I represent 5000 owners of rural pharmacies and am currently in the process of requesting the government to acknowledge in more concrete terms the important role played by the rural pharmacist in areas where the nearest hospital may be many miles away and the pharmacist acts as the primary point of healthcare e.g. for out-of hours services and homecare. These services need to be properly acknowledged and remunerated. More generally, there is perhaps a distinction between the pharmacy sectors of northern and southern Europe in terms of their different cultural approach and different healthcare models, but I believe that in future, what will really determine a pharmacy's ability to deliver the professional services patients need is its ability to present itself as a professional provider of healthcare services, rather than as a mere retailer."

What do you see as the key issues facing Italian pharmacy at present?

"The focus in the media at present is on the removal of fixed prices for OTC medicines and on the risk of these products being sold in supermarkets. I believe, however, that this is symptomatic of a more fundamental issue, relating to the choice which governments will need to face up to - whether they want to treat medicines as a commodity, subject to market rules, or whether they want to recognise the value of the public service the pharmacist can provide in terms of patient safety, compliance, chronic disease management and services for the most vulnerable members of the community."

What key trends have you noted in the way pharmacy is developing in Europe and how can the EPF play a part in dealing with these developments?

"Since the early '90's we have been moving away from purely dispensing medicines towards providing pharmaceutical care. I believe that we are now entering another new phase, which I would describe as one of patient safety. Increasingly, the focus will be on the health benefits and ultimate economic advantages of enabling pharmacists to provide a structured approach to patient safety, and reducing adverse events such as dispensing errors or inappropriate use of medicines which can ultimately mean having to hospitalise patients. The EPF can play an important role in debating and analysing new patient safety initiatives across Europe - no-one is in a better position than pharmacists themselves to assess these initiatives and consider which will have the best chance of succeeding in the real world of a working pharmacy."