The pharmacies in the south of Gran Canaria have a problem. Since 2018, they have been fighting with legal tools the presence of businesses with signs that pretend to be pharmacies. This comes from the seriousness and risks that the insufficient regulation of the identification of health establishments implies for public health, together with the growing number of complaints in tourist areas due to the high level of confusion that exists with non-health establishments that use the numbers to identify themselves. same symbols, signs, labels, exterior signs and words. To this end, the adoption of legislative measures was promoted to unequivocally guarantee the identification and signage of authorized health establishments, especially pharmacies.
The 2018 modification changed the regulation established in 2005 in the Pharmaceutical Regulation Law of the Canary Islands and declares the exclusivity of a series of symbols and words in any language for the identification of pharmacy offices. The rule on pharmacy office signage for both pharmaceutical and non-pharmaceutical establishments involves inspections to verify correct compliance. But the pandemic came and the system has been overwhelmed to correctly pursue business malpractice.
The legislative measure is doubly important because, in addition to guaranteeing the correct distinction between pharmacies and other non-health establishments, it implies that parliamentary groups have shared the growing concern of pharmacists and doctors about intrusive practices, which in most cases go accompanied by misleading or confusing advertising.
Among the actions undertaken, there was a Pharmaceutical and Health Information campaign for Tourists designed after receiving complaints from visitors who did not locate pharmacies in tourist areas due to confusion with the advertising of non-health establishments. The campaign was developed mainly on social networks and in the countries of origin of the tourists and aimed to facilitate the location of pharmacies in tourist areas and focused on the dissemination of a logo and a plaque that distinguishes the pharmacies from any other type of establishment, along with advertising in multiple supports where it was highlighted that in the Canary Islands pharmacies are the only establishments authorized for the dispensing of medicines.
