A Makkah-based charity is planning to launch an initiative to provide free medicine to needy patients across the Arab world, a charity official said.
The Medicine for All Charity Organization has been the result of a strategy to make medicine accessible to all Arabs, said Anas Ashour, the chairman of the organization.
The charity will start pharmacies across the Arab world to provide the medicine for needy patients with valid prescriptions, he said.
The charity will set up an Arab-wide campaign to educate the public on the proper use and disposal of medicine. The charity hopes to collect unused medicine from the public to redistribute to the needy, he said.
The charity will also determine which Arab regions are most in need of help, in coordination with local health centers, he added.
Poor patients with chronic, heart, kidney, and diabetes diseases will be the major beneficiaries of the free medicine program, and any other patients deemed in need of help, he said.
ABDULLAH AL-THABTI
Saudi Gazette