In the latest chapter of an ongoing dispute between Health Minister Andreas Loverdos and Greece’s pharmacists the union representing the country’s pharmacists rejected a proposal by the minister to fully liberalise their opening hours.
Loverdos suggested that pharmacists should be allowed the option of opening their shops on Monday and Wednesday afternoons, as well as on Saturdays – only a limited number of pharmacies currently operate during these times on an official rotation schedule.
The head of the Greek Pharmacists’ Association, Theodoros Abatzoglou, however, responded to the proposal by saying that extended opening hours would mean that the “big fish will eat the little fish”. His comments echo fears that liberalisation of the profession provides an unfair advantage to bigger pharmaceutical enterprises. Pharmacists are resisting changes in the deregulation process of their profession.
Source: Kathimerini