Decree No. 17 of August 10, 2022, which enters into force this Monday, August 15, which authorizes the 30% reduction in 170 medications, continues to cause concern among all owners and workers of small pharmacies, who affirm that this decision and agreement was not previously consulted.
Esperanza De Gracia, owner of the Botánica pharmacy, located in Río Abajo and member of the Union of Pharmacy Owners (Unprofa), stated that this decree took them by surprise because they were never consulted.
“We have been telling the government for almost three days that we were not consulted and letting it know that as the decree is proposed or presented, we have nothing else to close because we cannot sell below cost; we have made all the necessary approaches, but there are conditions that must be set out on paper, everything has remained in words, in promises and for this reason, yesterday we asked several ministers to make an extension in order to establish procedures, processes, and the commitments that the Government is trying to obtain from the large transnationals,” he said.
According to De Gracia, “quick fixes with poorly planned solutions” have been reached.
“We are on August 15, a fortnightly date, payment of the thirteenth month, we are closed and this is a sacrifice we make, more than out of protest, out of impossibility; we cannot comply with this decree,” he remarked.
The owner of the pharmacy reiterated the call to the Government so that they understand that small pharmacies “we have been open and dialogued, we have proposed. We are the first ones who want to lower the medicines, I am delighted that we finally achieved a task that we have had for a long time 40 years in lowering medications, but not at the expense of us alone and our weak and fragile economy.
He specified that these protest actions are linked to the community. “We are convinced that we are doing a job in the community. This pharmacy has been serving Río Abajo for 36 years,” she concluded.
Since the early hours of this Monday, more than 450 small pharmacies nationwide have kept their doors closed in rejection of this decree.
The National Union of Pharmacy Owners (Unprofa) asked the Executive Branch to postpone the entry into force of said decree for 15 days, but there was no response.
The president of Unprofa, Orlando Pérez, indicated over the weekend that control of the medicines rests with the manufacturing laboratories, that the Government hit the manufacturers, whoever brings the medicines, not the small pharmacies, that “we are businesses Panamanians. This leads to unemployment and we cannot meet the financial commitments either.”
The owners of these pharmacies trust that the Executive will call them again this Monday to meet and reach an understanding.
