Liberalization and Governance in the Geographical Distribution of Pharmacies in Spain

The Health system in Spain is considered one of the most valued public services by the population. In fact, during the first decade of the 21st century, Spain became a health tourism destination for people from central and northern European countries. In addition to the health infrastructure, the qu...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:International journal of environmental research and public health 2021-12, Vol.19 (1), p.34
Main Authors: Miramontes Carballada, Ángel, Lois-González, Rubén C
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Case studies
Drug stores
Geographical distribution
Geography
Health services
Humans
Jurisprudence
Legislation
Liberalization
Pharmaceutical Preparations
Pharmaceutical Services
Pharmaceuticals
Pharmacies
Pharmacy
Population
Privatization
Public concern
Social security
Spain
Supermarkets
Tourism
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Summary:The Health system in Spain is considered one of the most valued public services by the population. In fact, during the first decade of the 21st century, Spain became a health tourism destination for people from central and northern European countries. In addition to the health infrastructure, the quality of medical and nursing care stands out. Something similar also happens with the Spanish pharmaceutical system. However, there are some characteristics that should be addressed from a Geography perspective. The pharmacies' legal system does not consider them to be of public interest. One is when some of the main activities are the sale and distribution of medicines that are partially paid for by the Administration, that is, Social Security. In the same activity, the public function is combined with the private interests of the pharmacy owners to provide a balanced territorial service. One of the conclusions demonstrates how the borders that are sometimes created by the Administration are not always the most efficient in relation to the characteristics of the territory, nor do they provide the best service to the population and, therefore, create territorial imbalances within a country. To reach our conclusions, we carried out an exhaustive study of the pharmacy legislation in the EU and in Spain, as well as Geography of Health and theories of territorial location. We combined this information with statistics on the territorial characteristics of Spain. This allowed us to confirm the peculiarities that exist within the governance of the distribution of pharmacy offices in Spain.
ISSN:1660-4601
1661-7827
1660-4601
DOI:10.3390/ijerph19010034