Estonia, Legislation, Markets and Companies, Medicine, Strike

"Our goal is to establish, similar to family doctors, a pharmacy ownership restriction, so that big foreign companies could not come and throw us to the street in our own home towns, like it is already happening in Kunda, Vändra and Räpina," said Board Chairwoman of the Chamber of Pharmacists Karin Alamaa-Aas.

Pharmacists Union Chairwoman Ülle Rebane added that the big companies are not concerned about the patient, but only about the turnover and profit. "They are not interested in health care, but only in business. We have to do everything possible and more, to stand up for our sphere and to ensure that Estonian residents continue to get professional advice and affordable access to medicines in rural areas."

Shortly before Christmas, the Supreme Court abolished the temporary pharmacy establishment restrictions that the parliament had established in June last year to gain extra time to develop protective measures to independent and rural pharmacies.

Thus, the pharmacy market is completely free now to establish new pharmacies. Critics say that this will result in a rally of opening new pharmacies in cities while independent pharmacies, including most of the rural pharmacies will be pushed out of the market.

In mid-January, the Riigikogu will have the second reading of the amendments to the Pharmaceuticals Act, which pharmacists say gives large chains free hands to take over the entire market. However, this bill does nothing to help the availability of the service in rural areas.

There are around 120 pharmacies in Estonia now that are owned by the pharmacists themselves, most of them in smaller towns in rural areas. Altogether there were 506 pharmacies in Estonia as of the start of 2014, the majority of which belong to big foreign pharmacy chains.