Middle East and North Africa

Syria’s chemical weapon of mass destruction

Andrew Haynes explains how the chemical weapon sarin damages the body and eventually kills those exposed to it.…

Pharmacy in the Arab countries look towards the UK as gold standard

Mahendra Patel provides insight into pharmacy practice in the Arab countries when he attended a congress in Beirut in November 2016.…

Drug interactions with dietary or herbal supplements could be cause of hospital stays

Around 1 in 55 hospital admissions may have been caused by an adverse event triggered by a reaction between a dietary or herbal supplement and another medicine or supplement, according to Israeli research. As a result, the researchers say their findings suggest that medical staff need further …

Saint Cosmas and Damian: the patron saints of pharmacy and medicine

Szu Wong explains the story behind the Arabian twin brothers who practiced medicine and surgery without a fee.…

WHO delivers medicines to conflict zones in Syria and Iraq

The World Health Organization announced on 17 June 2016 that it has successfully delivered tonnes of medical aid into two besieged areas in Syria…

An overview of pharmacy practice in developing countries

‘Pharmacy practice in developing countries’, edited by Ahmed Ibrahim Fathelrahman, Mohamed Izham Mohamed Ibrahim and Albert I Wertheimer.…

UN officials call for pauses in Syrian conflict to vaccinate children

United Nations officials based in Syria have called on the warring sides to implement humanitarian pauses in the conflict to allow aid to reach millions of people and for children to be vaccinated.…

World’s poorest countries don’t need to protect drug patents until 2033, agrees WTO

The world’s poorest countries have been given an extension of 17 years to a waiver exempting them from implementing rules protecting drug patents and undisclosed clinical test data, the World Trade Organization (WTO) agreed on 6 November 2015.…

What pharmacists should consider before moving to another country

Moving to a different country to practise pharmacy gives practitioners the chance to work in unfamiliar conditions, meet new people and immerse themselves in foreign cultures. But if you are thinking of relocating abroad, what should you think about before doing so?…

Pharmacist numbers increase globally, report finds

The number of pharmacists per head of population has increased in many countries around the world but there remains a shortage in low-income and middle-income nations, according to an analysis. …