Thousands of pharmacists in Cairo and other governorates went on strike and closed their pharmacies the whole day or part of the day. Others kept open but refused to sell medicine. This came in response to the decision of their syndicate's general assembly of last Friday in protest against the cancellation of the agreement they had signed with the Tax Department in 2005, which considered them as small projects. Now they are required to do book-keeping and would be taxed for the last three years retrospectively. The emergency general assembly yesterday decided to continue the strike till Pharmacist Day on Saturday. It said it would take permanent measures in the face of the Tax Department's intransigence. It would also hold meetings in its branches in the provinces to assess the developments in the crisis. The assembly also called on its members to demonstrate before the Ministry of Finance like the Real Estate Tax employees did. And it has prepared the backyard of the syndicate to accommodate a sit-in by providing blankets for those who would sleep there. Syndicate President Mahmoud Abdel Maqsoud said that 98% of the pharmacies have responded to the decision and closed shop, which led to clashes with the customers. Ahmed Abdel Bari, an accountant, said: “I went to the pharmacy to buy medicine for my cold, but the pharmacist refused to give it to me. So I had a fight with him.” Ahmed Osama, an architect, said: “If the pharmacists have a problem with the government, they should not involve us in it.'
