In Bulgaria, 1.9 million people still live in a settlement without a pharmacy. In 23 municipalities there is none at all, although 2.6% of GDP (or about 4.7 billion leva) goes to medicines, mainly from the patients' pockets, it was reported.
Usually these are villages or localities where maintaining a pharmacy is economically pointless - the costs are high, and the turnover – small, there are no willing pharmacists.
But what is often forgotten are all the other possible solutions that would make access to medicines easier - if, of course, someone really wants to make it easier for patients.
The Institute for Market Economy (IME) created the campaign Bring Health - for better access to medicines in small settlements.