Pharmacy Network

Pharmacy Network. Before the October Revolution, the pharmacy network in our country was artificially limited by the existence of private pharmacy privileges (see) and corresponding regulations for their opening. In the capitals, one pharmacy was permitted for every 12,000 inhabitants; in provincial cities, for every 10,000 inhabitants; and in district towns, for every 7,000 inhabitants. Rural pharmacies could not be opened closer than 7 versts from one another; major hospitals had pharmacies that served inpatient and outpatient patients. According to 1905 data, there were 34,200 residents per private pharmacy in European Russia, 57,900 in Asian Russia, and 36,900 in the entire former empire. Pharmacies were opened mainly in urban centers. Hospital factory pharmacies, as well as rural ones, received little attention; in Russia there were about 40,000 villages where there were no pharmacies at all. After a significant reduction in the network during the civil war and blockade, which caused a drug famine, the pharmacy network is now being rapidly restored; according to 1926 data, the pharmacy network is as follows: RSFSR. Ukrainian SSR. Georgian SSR. Belarusian SSR. Armenian SSR. Hospital pharmacies 1,874 1,870* 171* 5 4. Number of prescriptions dispensed per year. State-owned, commercial pharmacies 5,193. Number of prescriptions dispensed per year 115,874,928 2,940 56,210,432 * This also includes pharmacies at medical points. ** Of this amount, 52,000,000 were in rural areas. The growth of the extramural pharmacy network in the RSFSR is as follows: Years. State-owned, extramural pharmacies. Private pharmacies in cities in rural areas in cities in rural areas 1924 1925 1926 656 873 918 30 350 611 285 6 25 4 10. Special attention is now being paid in the USSR to ensuring that factory and rural areas are covered by the pharmacy network. To expand the rural network, among other things, the profits of pharmacy administrations (see) are also used. Instead of numerical standards in the development of the pharmacy network, the principle of actual need has been adopted. According to the current plan, a pharmacy is built at each hospital, and in addition, there should be at least one commercial pharmacy in each enlarged VOLOST.