Tomáš Votruba of the Association of Full-Line Wholesalers (AVEL), which gathers the three major players of the pharmaceutical distribution market in the Czech Republic, gives an overview of the current priorities and challenges for wholesalers, and how he advocates for the interests of his members by working closely with the government and the pharmacists. Whilst analyzing the whole distribution pipeline in the pharmaceutical industry, considering the major changes over the past four years, Votruba exposes his concern about the role of the government in addressing the problem of drug shortage and falsified medicines, and how these issues could be addressed in the future. 

The shortage of medicines is a serious and growing issue. Here, it is very popular to blame the wholesalers. However, it is never the problem of the distribution, but always and only the problem of the producers