"In the coming weeks, the tender for the cultivation of medical cannabis by public and private companies will be ready". The announcement comes from Undersecretary of Health Andrea Costa during a show on the Italian national TV channel. The operation, he specified, serves to "achieve the goal of being self-sufficient in production. This is a topic that we are addressing together with the Ministry of Agriculture and the Ministry of the Interior.".
Costa also added that "the demand in 2021 is estimated to be 1400 kg, but the Military Pharmaceutical Institute of Florence is capable of producing perhaps 300 kg", and the rest would be imported.
Meanwhile, the national secretary of Federfarma, Roberto Tobia, told the Ansa agency that throughout Italy "there is a strong shortage of medical cannabis: supplies are not sufficient and pharmacies have great difficulty with regards to the exponentially increasing demand. We are chronically supplied," he said. "On top of that, despite the reimbursement by the NHS, many regions do not do that, and the cost for patients can reach over €500 per month."
Source: ilfattoquotidiano.it
