In the terms set forth in Law 14/1986, General Health Law, of April 25, and Law 25/1990, of December 20, on Medicines, pharmacies are private health establishments of public interest or subject to health planning established by the Autonomous Communities, in which the pharmacist who owns them, assisted, if applicable, by assistants or auxiliaries, must provide a series of basic services to the population, including the acquisition, custody, conservation, and dispensing of medicines and health products.
Unfortunately, for some time now, pharmacies have been on everyone's lips as the supposed major culprits, first for the shortage and prices of masks and then for the controversy intentionally caused by the sale prices of antigen tests.
But the reality is quite different: pharmacies not only sell tests, as some try to make it seem intentionally, but pharmacies provide a health service through the work of the pharmaceutical professional.
Citizens should know, and not forget, that absolutely all 22,137 pharmacies in Spain - let's keep in mind that they are the closest health establishment to the population, with 24-hour service seven days a week and with greater implementation in the national territory - do nothing but provide health services to the administration for which they do not receive any emolument, since their profit is the commercial margin of the product, a margin that is often imposed without looking at the real costs of the merchandise.
It is logical and understandable that we demand that the price of any product be as cheap as possible, but that does not mean that we should fail to value the professionalism of pharmacists and keep in mind that if someone is responsible for the high cost or not of health products, it is the Government that regulates and sets them by law.
The Spanish pharmacy must make the administration see that the thousands of pharmacists who practice in this country simply work in a profession from which they aspire to live with dignity, and that is why it is fair that they be recognized the right to receive an emolument for the service provided like any other professional. Perhaps for this reason, in a moment of health crisis like the current one in which Public Health complains - and rightly so - about the saturation of its system, the time has come to agree on the services of pharmacies with the administrations as other health sectors have done.
If something characterizes the pharmaceutical profession, it is its continuous proactivity, desire for cooperation, and offering solutions, always with an eye on collaborating to avoid the collapse of the health system and seeking the most effective protection of all citizens.
Alfonso J. López Torres
@AlfonsoJLT
