Changes in the expenditure for psychopharmaca in the last 20 years in Greece

The increased cost of psychopharmacological treatment in combination with the need for the transformation of Mental Health care with closing of big mental asylums and expansion of community-oriented services makes the need to evaluate the whole process. The analysis of the economic data from the years 2000-2009 for the mental health hospital of Corfu in comparison with data from the National Statistical Agency and coding according to the International Classification of Health Accounts (ICHA) suggests that the cost increased in spite of the fact that the number of patients decreased dramatically. The concomitant increase in the psychotherapeutic and psychosocial interventions did not cause any reduction in pharmacological costs.

It seems important to include economic indices in the evaluation of psychiatric transformation and also to apply international systems for the registration and assessment of health accounts. Also, the issue of generic drugs arises as of prime importance.