The Logistics of Settling In 135Pharmacies
Small pharmacies are located throughout Egypt. Many
medications that require a doctor’s prescription in North
America or Europe can be bought over the counter in
Egypt. To purchase narcotics, you will need a prescription
from an Egyptian physician. Frequently, there will be a
physician at the pharmacy; in fact, the pharmacist may well
be a physician. In general, you can find most prescription
medications at a good pharmacy in Egypt. You can usually
also find foreign made, imported or less-expensive Egyptian
made brands. Although I admit I have taken some Egyptian
made medications with no bad effects, I suspect the quality
control of the foreign brands is significantly higher. The
difference in price is worth it for the quality control during
manufacture. If you know you must have a specific brand or
a very specialised medication during your residence in Egypt,
best to bring a supply with you just in case that brand is not
imported to Egypt. If you bring in meds, be sure to keep any
prescription medication in its original container with the
label attached to avoid any possible confusion at customs.
It is usually recommended that you also bring a copy of the
physician’s prescription with you. I have never had anyone
check, but just as sure as I say that, the next time through,
my medications will be scrutinised!
Most commonly used medications, though definitely
not all, are available in some form in Egypt. However,
pharmacies may run out of the very thing you need or may
have drugs commonly used for an ailment, but not the
one you want. Also a particular medicine may be available
in a syrup instead of a pill, or vice versa, but available.
For example, I once desperately needed a specific kind of
asthma inhaler. The pharmacist had inhalers, but none with
the specific composition I needed. Another time, I needed
an expectorant cough medicine and was able only to find a
cough suppressant medication. In this case, I did not know
a chemical name I needed, so the pharmacist kept bringing
me the wrong medicine.
It is best to know what medicine you want to buy when
you go to the pharmacist. But even if you do not know what