The afflicted come from miles around, desperate for a drug, forming endless queues of disgruntled discomfort that snake their way slowly around the town square towards the only place that can help. Such is the picture at dispensers of emergency medicine across Greece, since pharmacists there went on strike.
As one might expect, given wholesalers are also striking in protest at proposed liberalization of Greece’s pharmaceutical marketplace, many areas are reporting an acute problem as dispensaries run low on drugs, with people often waiting hours in line only to reach the counter to find the treatment they need is unavailable.
Pharmacies in the Attica region will remain closed until Monday, while those in the rest of Greece will open on Monday. Until then, Greek people will have to get by with emergency outlets, which are even fewer and further between than the usual duty pharmacies, according to Kostas Lourantos, president of the Pharmaceutical Association of Attica (FSA),
After the strike on Monday, the FSA will hold a new general meeting to decide upon further courses of action.
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