Nonagenarian Teresa Planas visits the office in Castellfollit de la Roca (Garrotxa) to get vaccinated against the flu. At almost 95 years old, with enviable health and excellent mobility, until recently she went on foot to the town pharmacy, now closed. The closest is Sant Joan les Fonts, a municipality located just four kilometers away. A short but insurmountable distance for the older population. Her good friend Tere offers to buy her the little medication she needs. It’s her particular angel.
“I only take the blood pressure pill, it costs Social Security very cheaply,” jokes the elderly woman, who regrets the loss of this service. “It’s a real disaster not to have it,” complains the woman who remembers that Castellfollit was the first pharmacy in the Garrotxa region. “People came from many neighboring towns,” recall Pere Soler and Remei Culebras, both 88 years old, who depend on their children to go change the recipes. Florinda Argelés, younger, is helped by her husband, who still drives. “There are many older people here who live alone and cannot get around, let’s see if it can be fixed soon,” she adds.
The neighborhood and family fabric are the lifeline for the aging population of Castellfollit de la Roca, a municipality of about 920 inhabitants, of which more than 25% are over the age of 65. The percentage of inhabitants without a vehicle and who depend on third parties skyrockets. And public transportation is not a very reliable option, explains young Ana Siles, who leaves the consultation with a prescription in her hands. “The connections are not good at all. Although going to Sant Joan les Fonts is only five minutes by public transport, unless you place your orders very quickly, you have to wait a long time before you can catch a bus back home. Fortunately, now I already have a car,” she explains.
The pharmacy closed a few weeks ago, and the population is encountering abnormal situations. The owner of an inn explains that a few days ago she had to treat a cyclist who had had an accident with her first aid kit. And a middle-aged neighbor also notes the loss of privacy that comes with depending on others. “There are things that make me feel embarrassed to ask him, even if he is my son,” says María Ángeles González.
The mayor of Castellfollit de la Roca, Miquel Reverter, affirms that where neighbors or relatives do not reach, social services do so. “No one has been left without medication,” he explains, although he is aware of the hardship that the loss of this service means for older people.
The director of primary care at the Fundació Hospital d’Olot i Comarcal de la Garrotxa, on which the basic health area of ??Sant Joan les Fonts, les Valls d’en Bas i Hostoles depends, Glòria Bassets, goes further and confirms that With the loss of the pharmacy, the neighbors have also lost “a point of prevention, education and resolution of doubts” that any pharmacist exercises. “The graduate until now was a ten, she explained everything very well, she did a great pedagogical job,” says neighbor Maria Àngels Vila.
The municipality hopes to soon have a new owner behind the pharmacy counter. But more than reopening it, it is most likely that they will soon have a pharmaceutical first aid kit service, a medication delivery formula that makes up for the lack of pharmacy in rural municipalities and that provides coverage to those centers that, due to remoteness, communication difficulties, or high seasonal concentration require a pharmacy establishment.
The City Council has started the procedures with the Department of Health, which will consult the nearest pharmacies who wants to take charge. The City Council will then look for a public space, which will open for a few hours on the four days the office is open.
