Ukraine's health ministry mulling reduction of number of pharmacies

The Health Ministry of Ukraine is studying the introduction of restrictions on the number of pharmacies, setting a requirement for the opening of one pharmacy per 5,000 citizens, First Deputy Chairperson of the State Service for Medicine of Ukraine, Inna Demchenko, has said.

"The issue is being studied. The Health Ministry has even proposed changes to the license conditions regarding the accessibility for pedestrians. This is 300 meters in the cities and towns, 400 meters in district centers between pharmacies and one pharmacy per 5,000 residents in cities and towns," she said at a press conference in Kyiv on Tuesday, answering the question of Interfax-Ukraine.

Demchenko said that the state committee for entrepreneurship supported the idea, while the Antimonopoly Committee of Ukraine blocked it.

"We hope that we'll hold a general meeting with the participation of pharmacy associations and jointly convince the competition agency that restrictions should be introduced," she said.

Demchenko said that the requirement of one pharmacy per 5,000 residents is in effect in many countries, although in Denmark one pharmacy services 17,000 residents.