News - Middle East: French pharmacists have launched their first strike in a decade, along with 40 demonstrations scheduled across the country.

They shut down their businesses on Thursday due to concerns over drug shortages, inadequate regulated prices, the closure of pharmacies, and the potential sale of medications online.

Following extensive poster and email campaigns to notify the public about the closures, the majority of pharmacies in France were closed, with all pharmacies in certain regional towns shutting down.

All stakeholders in the field, including labor unions, professional organizations, and students, have come together in solidarity.

"Pharmacies in danger means a threat to health," chanted protesters in cities including Toulouse, Nice, Angers and Limoges.

"Where's the amoxycillin?" they said referring to an antibiotic that has suffered repeated shortages. 

In addition to the walkouts, pharmacists are organizing demonstrations in various towns across the country, along with a central protest in Paris.

The march in the capital will start from the pharmacy school and proceed towards the economy ministry, passing through the southern part of the city.

According predictions by unions, the closure of pharmacies is expected to initially reach 90 percent, and  then 100 percent in various provincial cities including Ajaccio, Nice, Avignon, Mâcon, and Roanne.

Experts emphasize their equal concern for issues such as drug shortages, rural healthcare closures, and training reform, in addition to remuneration and working conditions.

Only pharmacies that are required to provide essential pharmaceutical services will continue to operate in numerous locations. Several pharmacies have informed their customers through email, digital displays, or window posters about the strike.

"The biggest worry is vanishing pharmacies" which face economic hardship in rural areas and sometimes even in towns and cities, said Philippe Besset, president of the French Federation of Pharmaceutical Unions (FSPF).

According to FSPF, France has lost nearly 2,000 pharmacies over the past 10 years, leaving only around 20,000 operating nationwide.

The labor unions are also requesting a hike in salary effective from 2025, attributing it to the effects of inflation on their costs. They view the most recent offers from healthcare insurance groups during the current contract talks that commenced in late 2023 as inadequate.

Pharmacists rarely resort to striking in France, as the previous notable strike occurred a decade ago.