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Health: these pharmacies forced to close their doors
Health: these pharmacies forced to close their doors
(France 2)
The pharmacies are calling for a guard strike, during the weekend of May 18 and 19, before the big mobilization of May 30. Pharmacists are demanding financial increases from Health Insurance. Since January, 46 pharmacies have closed.
In Puycasquier, a small village in the Gers, the pharmacy is much more than a business. For 25 years at the helm, Frank Debant knows almost all of his customers. His pharmacy is profitable, but it will close its doors for the first time during the summer for the holidays, and perhaps soon permanently, for lack of a successor. “If I am forced to close, it will break my heart for my customers, for the village”he confides.
The prospect of closure also worries customers. “If we start to no longer have pharmacies in small villages, it becomes a disaster”, confides one of them. Frank Debant’s expenses increased by 15% last year, and his salary does not exceed 2,500 euros today, not enough to encourage the arrival of a replacement.
In Vienne, the 3,000 inhabitants of Boivre-la-Vallée have not had a pharmacy for more than two years. As a result, the village bakery lost a quarter of its turnover and laid off an employee. In 2023, 300 pharmacies will close their doors in France.
