Pharmacists say strike is inevitable

The head of the Czech Chamber of Pharmacists, Lubomir Chudoba, has said that the planned strike of pharmacists is becoming inevitable because of the attitude of the health ministry. Mr Chudoba said that the outcome of a meeting of pharmacists and Health Minister David Rath on Monday will decide whether pharmacies will close their doors on Wednesday or not. Czech pharmacists disagree with the ministry's recent decision to cut their profit margins by three percent in order to reduce medicine costs. Meanwhile, Health Minister David Rath says he is considering a further reduction of the profit margin, which now stands at 29 percent.