We are looking for a solution to the problem of 24-hour pharmacies in Sofia. This was announced by the chairman of the Standing Committee on Health Care and Social Policy in SOS Vanya Grigorova. She and the Deputy Chairman of the Standing Committee for Children, Youth and Sports Enyo Savov met with the Chairman of the Bulgarian Pharmaceutical Union Dimitar Marinov and the Secretary General of the organization Svetoslav Krumov today. The conversation was initiated by the municipal councilors from the Local Coalition group "BSP for Bulgaria". on the occasion of reports sent to them by citizens from the outskirts of Sofia about the lack of or difficult access to pharmacies.
"This first meeting of ours was very useful, I believe for both sides, commented Vanya Grigorova. - We found out that there is currently an online pharmacy map on which the locations of all pharmacies in the country are indicated. Unfortunately, it has not been updated since 2016 and is not up to date. It is also not clear when this might be done. We also realized that there are some deficits in 24-hour pharmacies and we will look for a solution to this problem at the level of the Metropolitan Municipality. When we find an option, of course, we will also discuss it with the Ministry of Health".
During the meeting, a number of other issues affecting citizens were discussed. "We discussed the problem of the periodic lack of certain medicines for some socially significant diseases, added Vanya Grigorova. - We also talked about the reimbursement of part of the medicines that are needed in the country. We commented on the question of why the electronic prescription is not yet applied to all medicines that are prescribed by general practitioners. It is obviously very necessary that the e-prescription comes into effect for all medicines. In this way, it will be possible to track what the doctors prescribe. This, in fact, is also the basis of the possibility of achieving lower prices for medicines. When the pharmacist does not have the right to make a generic substitution, he is obliged to provide the patient with the exact drug that the doctor prescribed, even if it is at a much higher price, although there is a significantly cheaper alternative.
Vanya Grigorova expressed satisfaction that Dimitar Marinov and Svetoslav Krumov from the Bulgarian Pharmaceutical Union are ready to assist in solving the problems at the level of the Metropolitan Municipality. "And I declared the readiness of the Sofia Municipality to help solve the problems at the national level as well, from which the people of Sofia would also benefit," added the chairman of the Standing Committee on Health Care and Social Policy in SOS.
According to the municipal councilor from the Local Coalition group "BSP for Bulgaria" Enyo Savov has many problems in the pharmaceutical industry, which prevent her from fulfilling a social role. "It is obvious that the economic interest is far ahead of the needs of the citizens and this must change as soon as possible, commented Enyo Savov. - With the other municipal councilors from the Local Coalition "BSP for Bulgaria" we are determined to work in this direction. And with my colleague Vanya Grigorova, we will prepare the necessary reports and questions in order to start changing the status quo in the direction of facilitation and access for citizens to medicines and consumables of first necessity related to people's health".