Hundreds of pharmacies shut down in Germany to protest government policies

Most pharmacists in northern Germany closed their doors on Wednesday to protest the government's health policy, underfunding and excessive bureaucracy.

"The federal government has broken its promise to strengthen the local pharmacies," Berend Groeneveld, chair of the pharmacists associations in Lower Saxony, said in a statement.

"Politics is destroying the pharmacy system and thus endangering the supply of medicines," he said, adding that they would like to draw attention to the growing problems by the protest action.

Hundreds of pharmacies in the northern states of Bremen, Hamburg, Schleswig-Holstein, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and Lower Saxony joined the protest.

Pharmacists say more pharmacies are at risk of closure due to severe economic conditions, staff shortages and medication bottlenecks. They are demanding from the government to change the regulations, and increase the rate they get paid for every prescription medication.