In a statement, the society said the withdrawal affects both the oral formulation and the intravenous form used in hospitals, leaving clinicians without an effective option for treating severe infections with high mortality rates, particularly among vulnerable and immunocompromised patients.
TMP/SMX is considered, in many cases, the treatment of choice and, for certain conditions, the only effective therapeutic option. Its absence, ESI said, prevents the provision of optimal care, while alternative treatments are often less effective, more toxic and significantly more expensive.
The society highlighted that the antibiotic is essential for infections primarily affecting immunocompromised patients, including a form of pneumonia that occurs in people living with HIV/AIDS, transplant recipients and other high-risk groups. In these cases, TMP/SMX is a first-line treatment and is also used preventively to avert the onset of the disease.
ESI also underlined the drug’s critical role in treating cerebral toxoplasmosis, a condition with a high mortality rate, as well as toxoplasmosis during pregnancy, where it is used as a second-line option when other regimens are unavailable, a situation it said is frequent in the Greek market.
In addition, the society warned that the absence of TMP/SMX forces clinicians to rely on broader-spectrum antibiotics for common infections such as urinary tract infections. This practice, it said, contributes directly to the rise of antimicrobial resistance, which remains a major international public health concern.
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