Pharmacies in Lebanon announce strike on Thursday, warning of sector collapse

Pharmacy owners in Lebanon called for a strike and to stop working next Thursday due to the fall in their income as a result of the collapse of the national currency, warning of the collapse of the sector and calling on the Minister of Health in the interim government. , Hamad Hassan, to fulfill their promises by increasing the rate set for them.
In their protest yesterday, the pharmacy owners appealed to the Minister of Health to support their sector and be fair, and called for a halt to work next Thursday and a protest in the morning in front of the Ministry of Health, warning that “The collapse of one of the focal points of any building will lead to its total collapse.”
The pharmacy owners asked the Minister of Health to “fulfill the promise he made in the Pharmacists Union, in which he promised to help the pharmaceutical sector to continue and avoid its decline, providing support to the remuneration of the pharmacist without any impact. significant in the purchasing power of medicines by citizens “.
The statement said that, after two weeks of the minister’s promise, it has still not been fulfilled, despite the fact that the collapse of the pharmaceutical sector is accelerating to affect more than 600 pharmacies, as indicated by the captain on more than one occasion. and over time the snowball gets bigger and almost reaches a point that it can’t. Control over it ”. He pointed out that “the daily losses that pharmacies suffer as a result of the crazy increase in the exchange rate, with a lot of operational charges in the pharmacy, which we buy in dollars, including bags, lighting, refrigerators to preserve medicines, pharmacy rent, among others ”.
Pharmacists spoke that “many importers refrain from delivering medicines and infant formulas except for a small percentage, with the daily confrontations that accompany patients in the search for their medicine from one pharmacy to another”, highlighting that what worries them is seek alternatives to forcibly and greedily cutting or discontinuing medications, so that the patient continues to obtain their medication regardless of the circumstances.