Pharmacist Elke Althöfer-Blautzik on an emergency mission to Mozambique in 2019.
Doctors Without Borders are known around the world. A similarly named organisation of pharmacists is less prominent. Apotheker ohne Grenzen (AoG – Pharmacists Without Borders) contribute to work in disaster relief and development cooperation side by side with doctors, nurses and technicians.
The relevance of pharmacists is sometimes underestimated. Though their professional training does not enable them to diagnose diseases or set broken bones, pharmaceutical therapies are among the most important methods for treating patients. On top of providing reliable medications like antibiotics, painkillers or malaria pills in emergency situations, they also tell patients about proper usage. The tasks pharmacists perform include fighting counterfeit medicines, providing further education for health professionals and advising other health professionals on treatments as well as optimising storage and procureme