The Situation in Belgrade Pharmacies: The Price Citizens Are Paying for 12 Years of Poor Governance
Nearly two centuries ago, Serbia was granted permission by imperial decree (Hatt-i Sharif) to open pharmacies. It was then that the first pharmacy in Belgrade was established — an institution that would later continue its work under the name “Belgrade Pharmacies.” Today, the branches of this institution are being closed en masse, employees have gone months without salaries, their accounts are blocked, and they are struggling to procure medicines. The situation is on the brink of collapse.
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12/7/20251 min read
City authorities claim they will find “some kind” of solution. They will not. If they believe anyone will accept that they sincerely wish to save the pharmacies while, at the same time, the coach of the “New Belgrade” water polo club publicly states that the pharmacies should be privatized, they are gravely mistaken. Belgrade Pharmacies are the primary mechanism through which the City of Belgrade can directly influence the public health of its citizens. And the fact that this essential instrument is not even mentioned in the document “Public Health Plan of the City of Belgrade 2020–2026,” issued by the City itself, clearly illustrates the authorities’ attitude toward the institution.
Anyone who does not understand that public pharmacies do not exist to generate profit, but to ensure secure and equal access to medicines for all citizens, everywhere, does not understand what a public good is and cannot be entrusted with governing this city. The disastrous state of Belgrade Pharmacies is the price we are paying for 12 years of poor, irresponsible, and anti-citizen governance. Belgrade Pharmacies are of vital importance to all of us, and we will fight for them.
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