In Mykolaiv, the locations of substitution therapy pharmacies may be changed following complaints from residents

The pharmacy on 3rd Slobidska Street, where drug users receive medication. Photo: Dmytro Sichko

In Mykolaiv, complaints from residents regarding pharmacies operating under the substitution maintenance therapy programme will be investigated. According to Mayor Oleksandr Sienkevych, most of the complaints concern the pharmacy on the corner of 3rd Slobidska Street and Tsentralnyi Avenue.

This was discussed during a staff meeting, NikVesti reports.

During the meeting, the mayor instructed the head of the city health department, Iryna Shamrai, to look into the matter and determine the criteria used to locate pharmacies participating in the programme within the city.

«Iryna Shamrai, I would ask you to look into this matter and, if possible, prepare some proposals. When one person writes in, one might assume they simply don’t like something. But when complaints come in en masse, we need to find out what is going on and what the plan is for the location of these pharmacies. Perhaps it would be worth spreading them out a bit,» said Oleksandr Sienkevych.

At the same time, he noted that pharmacies are usually located in areas with high footfall and convenient transport links.

According to the mayor, once the city council has examined the issue, they will decide on the next steps. If necessary, the police may be called in to maintain order near the pharmacies.

It should be noted that city councillors had previously drawn attention to the issue surrounding pharmacies operating under the substitution maintenance therapy programme. In particular, during the session on 3 June, councillor Dmytro Sichko reported numerous complaints from residents about crowds gathering near one of the pharmacies on the corner of Tsentralnyi Avenue and 3rd Slobidska Street.

According to him, patients from various parts of the city come to the pharmacy to receive medication under the state programme, which is causing discontent among residents of nearby buildings.