Pharmacies may go on a widescale strike on February 1 depending on the outcome of negotiations with the Health Ministry over their profit margin, Deputy Head of the Pharmacists Syndicate Mostafa al-Wakel threatened on Sunday. In December, pharmacists called for a strike against their profit margins being cut to 18 percent of drug prices, down from 25 percent. This percentage is given to the pharmacies by pharmaceutical companies. The strike was scheduled to start on Sunday, but was postponed on Saturday by the syndicate’s general assembly so as to enter into negotiations on the matter with the Health Ministry. "He [the minister] caused this problem to worsen by favoring the companies over the pharmacists, and we will not accept such things," Domah said.

Source: Egypt Independent January 16, 2017 11:12 UTC