The regulations for pharmacy start-ups will become more rigid in the future. In towns with a population of more than 50,000 there has to be a minimum of 4,000 people to be served by one pharmacy, in smaller towns 4500. The distance to the closest competitor has to be at least 250 meters.
A pharmacist must not own more than four branches. Pharmacists interested in opening a dispensary need a concession, which is not transferable and can be passed on to heirs, in case they are pharmacists. Concessions will only be granted after public invitations to tender.
Moreover, any discount systems in place, such as Rx bonuses or promotional gifts are prohibited from now on. Store cards can only be issued if clients use their collected points for pharmaceutical services, such as measuring the blood pressure.
After the first draft of the legislation was made known to the public in November last year, the Hungarian state secretary of Health, Dr. Miklós Szócska, invited representatives of the pharmacy association, the pharmacy chains as well as the wholesalers' association for negotiations about the bill. However, after various amendments of the single interest groups the parliament approved the law on December 20th. It varies only insignificantly from the bill made known in November.
In 2001 the right conservative goverment had approved a similar pharmacy law, which made the majority share holding for registered pharmacists obligatory. At that time, the chain companies were granted a 5-year-transition period. Head of government at that time was again Viktor Orbán (Fidesz party). The current pharmacy bill was approved under Orbán's leadership as well.
However, the former reregulation never became reality. Shortly before the transition period ended, the successor government liberalised the pharmacy market. The new government voted down the third-party and multiple ownership bans as well as the obligation to attend for pharmacists and the requirement that all drugs have to be sold exclusively in pharmacies. Even automatic dispensing machines for OTC products were legalised.
According to the Hungarian Association of Pharmacists the new legislation is appropriate. "Six years are an adequate period for everyone to prepare for the effetc of the reform“, says a spokesman. Pharmacists who are interested in taking over a chain pharmacy or opening a new one could profit from public development programmes.
On the contrary, the chain companies protest against the reregulation and want to take legal actions in front of the Hungarian Constitutional Court. "The retroactive intervention of the state in prevailing property ist against the constitution“, says Karolina Korodi, President of the Hungarian Chain Pharmacy Association. About a third of the about 800 chain pharmacies are now being controlled by the pharmaceutical wholesalers Phoenix, Hungaropharma and Humantrade (Teva).
Πηγή: www.pharma-adhoc.com