On September 6, Minsk / BELTA correspondent /. The Ministry of Health of Belarus will not penalize pharmacies for selling prescription drugs without a prescription until mid-2012, the Ministry of Health informed BELTA correspondent. "Given the onset of the epidemic season of ARVI and flu, the need for explanatory work among the population and training of outpatient clinic doctors, the Ministry of Health Board has decided not to apply sanctions to pharmacies systematically violating the procedure for selling medicines until the second half of 2012," the Ministry of Health clarified. Pharmacies are not deprived of licenses for such violations. In recent years, with the increase in the number of pharmacies, primarily non-state ones, numerous cases of violation of the procedure for dispensing medicines have been recorded. Often, this is due to the fact that pharmacy visitors themselves ask to sell a medicine without a prescription that is not included in the list of over-the-counter drugs. At the same time, citizens refer to the fact that the interests of the patient should be taken into account, who, without visiting the clinic unnecessarily, could freely purchase the medicine. "Studying this problem shows that under the guise of supposed concern for the availability of medicine for the patient, irresponsible self-medication is widely practiced, actually associated with the commercial interests of drug manufacturers," the Ministry of Health stated. The Ministry of Health has repeatedly informed the public about the inadmissibility of such violations and the dangers of uncontrolled use of medicines. At the end of July this year, the Ministry of Health, by an official letter, once again warned the healthcare departments, Pharmacia enterprises, and heads of non-state pharmacies about increasing the responsibility of pharmaceutical and medical workers in preventing the uncontrolled use of drugs. According to the Ministry of Health, about 6 thousand drug names are registered in Belarus. More than 1.2 thousand of them are included in the over-the-counter list, which is about 20% of the total pharmacy assortment. It is these drugs that are used for self-treatment and first aid. A doctor's prescription is required to purchase medicines not included in this list.