“It is a delicate therapy that understandably arouses fears among general practitioners, but AIFA’s decision is necessary and certainly appropriate”. These are the words of Guido Rasi, scientific director of Consulcesiin front ofauthorization by the Italian Medicines Agency for the prescription of antivirals for Covid-19 by general practitionerscollected by the newspaper ‘Sanità Informazione’.
For Rasi, the resolution could be an opportunity to bring general practitioners back to the center of the national healthcare innovation process but, he warns, “only if they are guaranteed continuous and innovative training. If I partly share the concerns of many colleagues in the administration of the new treatments, as they are delicate, on the other hand I believe that general practitioners have degrees in medicine and, after specific professional updatingthey can and should have the ability to prescribe any drug “.
“Indeed, the inclusion of these in the management of antivirals – adds Rasi – may be the first step towards correcting a system error that has led to the progressive exclusion of family doctors from innovation”.
According to the former EMA number one, for decades in Italy, it prevailed a type of pharmacoeconomic rather than clinical policy that tended to limit the prescription of drugs to the specialist field. “I believe that the management of a new drug must evolve, passing from the initial prescription for specialists to the progressive expansion among general practitioners, thus enhancing the effectiveness of territorial assistance, the backbone of the national health system” , continues Rasi.
Ma innovation in care must go hand in hand with innovation in training. “When we talk about training, we immediately think of heavy tomes to study and evaluate. But with the speed with which information can flow today, it is necessary to focus on continuous professional updating, specific, fast and easy to access – he underlines – It is time from develop and apply a modern and effective training systemwhich exploits the possibilities offered by technology by integrating interactive videos and materials with studies and research, favoring the creation of accurate but also faster and more targeted checks “.
“General practitioners – or so I hope – can begin to emerge from that bureaucratic isolation into which they have been relegated for a long time now,” says Rasi. Authorizing general practitioners to prescribe antivirals can therefore be an opportunity for everyone. “We are talking about an important change that could go well beyond this health emergency. But it is a change that must be managed and governed with awareness, knowledge and training and continues, reducing the bureaucratic tasks that too often slow down and complicate the work of professionals”, concludes.