Pharmacy owners have announced a strike starting Friday to pressure the Health Ministry to provide a list of medicines that the government will continue to subsidize so that distributors will stop withholding stock.
This comes after a group of angry protesters stormed a warehouse full of medicines claimed to be out of stock in pharmacies.
Videos of the raid circulated on social media, and the discovery of the medicines enraged residents who began to put the blame on pharmacies.
As a result, pharmacists in North Lebanon announced a strike on Thursday to protest against repeated attacks and being held responsible for medicine shortages.
In light of the raid, the Syndicate of Pharmacists in Lebanon issued a statement calling on authorities to protect pharmacies from attacks and robberies.
Similar to the claims against fuel distributors and gas station owners, medicine importers seem to be withholding medicines in anticipation of the lifting of subsidies so they can profit more, leaving pharmacists caught in the fire.
