Pharmacists across Greece launched a 48-hour strike on March 10-11, 2014 in order to protest the countries’ lenders’ demands to open the so-called “closed profession” and have non-prescription drugs been sold at the supermarkets.
During the strike, purchases can be obtained by the pharmacies on duty here.
PS The website of Greek Pharmacists’ Association might be occasionally down due to heavy traffic, I suppose.
I have to say that this strike seems to me to express the worst of what has gone wrong in Greece. Clearly running a pharmacy is a nice little earner, in Agios Nikolaos on Crete I know of at least 12 small pharmacies, seven of these are within a two minute walking distance. Are the people of the town better served by having so many pharmacies? I don’t think so. Three or four large pharmacies that stocked everything you wanted in a pharmacy would probably serve the people much better. But of course that would remove the very nice living that the dozen or so pharmacies here clearly enjoy. So once again the vested interests of the few who have a nice living want to keep things the way they are regardless of whether the current system properly serves the people.