Two years after the liberalization desired by former minister Bersani, the citizen seems to continue to prefer the traditional pharmacy. In fact, the parapharmacies inside supermarkets and in the area absorb, as far as non-prescription drugs are concerned, the only ones they can distribute, only 2 percent of the market. This is what emerged during the round table "Drugs as a perspective for the future: a widely consumed product or a key resource for the citizen's health?" which took place as part of the conference promoted by the provincial order of pharmacists at Polo Zanotto. To underline the figure, the representative of a chain of parapharmacies opened in large-scale retailers, Alessandro Pedrina. «From a questionnaire that we distributed», he explained, «it emerged that the citizen chooses the parapharmacy in the supermarket for convenience of opening hours, continued for 12 hours, and parking. Convenience is not underlined, as it is minimal, quantifiable at 10 euros a year for a family». However, the fears raised by pharmacists on the reform do not subside, always convinced that taking the medicine out of the pharmacy has triggered, as Andrea Mandelli, vice president of the Federation of Italian Pharmacists' Orders underlined, a dangerous process: the commodification of the drug. «Not a product to restore health», he said, «but a simple commodity of which it becomes logical to speak only in terms of convenience, discount, savings». At issue, for pharmacists, is not the professionalism of the colleague who works in parapharmacies. But the ownership of the latter: large companies that respond to purely commercial logic, as Franco Caprino, national secretary of Federfarma, the owners' union, replied to Antonio Tognoni, Veneto regional coordinator of the National Union of Consumers, who underlined the effectiveness of the Bersani reform in terms of savings for the user. According to pharmacists, the added value of the traditional pharmacy is that of guaranteeing a health service to the customer. "The oncological and cardiovascular disease prevention campaigns are very effective", confirmed Roberto Mora, secretary of the Order of Surgeons and Dentists of Verona, and Mara Vezzani, of the pharmaceutical service of the Veneto Region, "but above all pharmacovigilance knowing the customer's medical history, the pharmacist prevents the purchase of medicines that could interact dangerously with others already taken". EZ The Verona Arena of 05/26/2008 p. 11
