AKIPRESS.COM - All pharmacies in Greece will be closed on Friday and on Monday as pharmacists continue their protests against planned reforms aimed at liberalizing their sector, according to AnsaMed.

Pharmacists are objecting to measures being urged by the country's creditors to open up the sector to competition by changing the rules governing where pharmacies can operate and by whom they can be run, as well as freeing up their opening hours.

The Panhellenic Pharmacists' Union (PFS) has repeatedly expressed fears that the liberalization of pharmacies will make small businesses owned by individual pharmacists vulnerable to competition from large pharmacy chains. It also objects to a recommendation made by the OECD for over-the-counter medicines to be sold at supermarkets.

The majority of Greece's 11,000-plus pharmacies are individually owned by certified chemists who depend a lot on neighborhood trade and sales of over-the-counter drugs and personal care products to remain in business.

Meanwhile, Health Minister Adonis Georgiadis appeared confident that a solution on the issue of over-the-counter medicines will be reached, saying that his ministry is against their liberalization even though jurisdiction for this decision lies with the Development Ministry.