From Thursday, antibiotics will only be available with a prescription, according to a new provision by the Ministry of Health passed in February, ANT News reported.
The prescription from now on will be electronic and will state the drug as well as the dosage for the specific illness.
In exceptional cases when it is not possible to issue an electronic prescription, the handwritten prescription must contain all the details of the electronic one and name the illness.
According to the Panhellenic Medical Association (PIS), this law is a 'win' for the medical world, which took about 50 years to implement. It is noted that the law requiring a doctor's prescription for the sale of drugs has existed since 1973, but it was often ignored.
Greece is in first place in Europe in the consumption of antibiotics in Primary Health Care and the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) has said greeks consume double the amount of antibiotics compared to the EU average.
