Many pharmacies in the southern German states of Baden-Württemberg and Bavaria remained closed on Wednesday to protest the current healthcare policy.
Pharmacists organized protests against excessive bureaucracy, persistent supply bottlenecks and the ongoing underfunding of the sector.
The number of pharmacies is at its lowest level in 40 years, and the supply system is being cut to the bone, they said. “We want to oppose this with our protest,” said Tatjana Zambo, president of the Baden-Württemberg Pharmacists’ Association.
Due to a law introduced on February 1, pharmacies would have to pay a discount to the statutory health insurance funds, resulting in a sharp drop in fees, explained the State Pharmacists’ Association of Lower Saxony.
“The Health Ministry, according to its own information, apparently has no idea what is earned in public pharmacies under the current collective agreements,” said the pharmacists’ union ADEXA on Wednesday.
According to the trade unions, thousands of people gathered for the central rally in Stuttgart. The medical association Medi Baden-Württemberg also joined the protests.
The rally in Stuttgart is the third in a series of actions in recent weeks.
On November 29, a rally in Dresden will conclude the month of protests with pharmacy closures in Brandenburg, Berlin, Saxony-Anhalt, Thuringia and Saxony.
