Greek pharmacists call indefinite strike over measures

Pharmacists have decided to launch an open-ended strike from Wednesday in protest at the government’s liberalization measures.

The pharmacists accused the coalition of making last-minute changes to draft legislation that will limit the role of pharmacies and threaten the livelihoods of some 12,000 Greek pharmacists.

“Pharmacies will not go like lambs to the slaughter,” said the head of the Greek Pharmacists’ Association, Kyriakos Theodosiadis.

“If people want medicines they should go to [Development Minister Costis] Hatzidakis’s office to get them. Let the ministers who vote for these provisions secure medicines for people.”

The Health Ministry responded with a statement that said it had secured significant benefits for pharmacists in Greece’s recent agreement with the troika, including the withdrawal of a demand that their profit margin be reduced to 15 percent across the board.