The census of Bulgarian pharmacies, carried out by the Bulgarian Pharmaceutical Union (BPhU), is expected to be completed by October 20, officials from the industry association, quoted by Dnevnik daily, have said.

The online registry is meant to establish the actual number of pharmacies in the country, as well as assist any pharmacies experiencing logistical problems and track the qualified personnel, BPhU secretary-general Gabriela Vouteva said, as quoted by the newspaper.

BPhU began the census because it believes that many villages and smaller towns across the country have no regular access to a pharmacy, Vouteva said. Most pharmacies are located in major cities like Sofia, Plovdiv and Varna and as a result many regional towns and villages are left with no such units, meaning people having to travel long distance which significantly increses the cost of their medicine.

Even major cities like Rousse, Razgrad, Lovech and Vidin had entire neighbourhoods without any pharmacies, she said.

According to official statistics from the Health Care Ministry, Bulgaria had 4320 registered pharmacies. The actual figure is a lot smaller, according to NPhU chairperson Miroslav Nenchev, as some of them have ceased service but have not yet submitted an application of annulment and were thus still technically operational in the books.

There were just over 400 pharmacies scattered across the rural areas of Buglaria, of which nearly half were closed. Consequently, villagers have to travel significant distances to nearby, or in some cases not-so-nearby, towns to purchase even the most basic medicaments, Nenchev said, as quoted by Dnevnik.

When the new registry is completed, BPhU plans to contact local authorities in areas with no pharmacies to attempt and establish such.

The system is also meant to generate information regarding pharmacists leaving Bulgaria, an area for which no data exists. Furthermore, the system will be able to identify pharmacies selling illegal or counterfeit medication, as well as expired medication.