Not even 10,000 kuna a month is enough for a pharmacist to come to work on one of the most beautiful Croatian islands.
To visit a pharmacy and get prescribed medicines is not an easy task for about 1,100 inhabitants of the island of Mljet. Particularly since the end of May, when the only local pharmacy in Babino Polje was closed down because the pharmacist retired. Since then, and even now in the middle of the tourist season when there are up to 5,000 people living on the island, they all have to travel to either to Ston or Dubrovnik to get their medicines. And that is neither easy nor cheap, reports Večernji List on August 6, 2018.
Until two days ago, the problem seemed to be resolved. Dubrovnik Pharmacies, which own the pharmacy on the island, had issued a public call for a pharmacist who would move to the island and replace the retired one. There were two candidates who sent their applications, and the winner was a pharmacist from the Zagreb area who said he was willing to move to Mljet and take over the job. Unfortunately, he changed his mind at the very last moment.
“Everything was agreed and the gentleman was supposed to come to take over the pharmacy as soon as possible. Still, due to family reasons, he eventually refused to move. So the trouble continues. It is not easy to find an adequate pharmacist. There aren’t many people willing to come to live on the island. The public call will now have to be repeated, I think it will be announced today. I call on anyone interested to apply so that the island can finally get a pharmacy,” said Mayor of Mljet Đivo Market.
The pharmacist will get a salary of no less than 10,000 kuna, and the accommodation will be provided by the municipality.
Until a new pharmacist is chosen, the locals will just have to manage. “We are thinking about finding someone who would bring the medicines from Dubrovnik to Mljet because the current situation is unbearable,” said the mayor.
The reopening of the pharmacy would be a welcome change for the residents, who have available two family physicians on the island all year round, as well as additional medical teams during the tourist season. The only thing they do not have is a pharmacy.
“It is difficult living on an island without a pharmacy. People have to take a ship to Dubrovnik just to get an Aspirin, and this has to change. It was known for many months in advance that the pharmacist would retire. They should have thought about it much sooner”, said a local.
Translated from Večernji List (reported by Petra Maretić Žonja).
