German pharmacies close in protest action

Thousands of pharmacies across Germany closed on Wednesday in protest against increasing demands on pharmacists without what they consider sufficient financial compensation.

Around 85% of the country's almost 18,00 pharmacies closed their doors, according to the Federal Association of German Pharmacists (ABDA). Some 1,200 locations remained open for emergencies.

The protest action is directed at the government's health care policies, which pharmacists say has increased their workload, pointing to bottlenecks in procurement and increasing bureaucracy.

Why are German pharmacies demanding?

Delivery problems have made the pharmacists do "more complicated and cost effort and time," ABDA said.

Workers are also calling for an increase in the rate they get paid for every prescription medication they sell.

The current rate stands at €8.35 ($9.05) — a figure that has not changed in ten years, despite rising costs.

Pharmacists are demanding that this rate be increased to €12. They also called for a further fixed rate in order to guarantee the provision of medication, in line with similar rates for doctors' surgeries and clinics.

Pharmacies have been "decouple from general economic development," which is "no longer just unfair, but also an existential threat."

According to ABDA, cited by German public broadcaster Tagesschau, the number of pharmacies in Germany has fallen by over 2,700 in ten years.

German government rejects demands

German Health Minister Karl Lauterbach expressed understanding for the protest action, but rejected the demands for more money.

He said that a lack of additional funds or increasing contributions to statutory health insurance means that there is no room for maneuver.

The Central Association of the Statutory Health Insurance (GKV) also pointed out that pharmacists' rates were de facto increasing due to the fact that they are paid 3% of the retail price of medications.

"With every price increase, with every new, more expensive medication, the pharmacist's fee also increases," GKV spokesperson Florian Lanz said.

An increased fixed rate to €12 would mean €2.2 billion extra for pharmacies without any benefit for customers, he added.

But supporters of the protest argued that a point needs to be made.

"We have to show society how important pharmacies are for healthcare and how dramatic it would be if even more pharmacies disappeared from their role as a reliable social contact point," Thomas Benkert, head of the German Federal Chamber of Pharmacists, said.

Edited by: Jenipher Camino Gonzalez