20,000 medicines collected in four hours

The campaign to collect unwanted medicines began at a good pace yesterday. By half past one, the Banc Farmacèutic, which for 10 years has organised the campaign to collect unwanted medicines to donate to people in need, reported that some 20,000 medical products had already been collected in Spain, with a value of 90,000 euros. That is a third of the campaign's objective of 65,000 medicines in a morning.

Even though the campaign receives the most publicity on the Friday it begins, many chemists will continue to collect medicines throughout the week. In fact, donations of unwanted medicines and sanitary products can be made until next Friday.

“As happens with energy poverty, many people do not have the resources to cover the expense and so do without,” said the Banc Farmacèutic's president, Àlex Brenchat, yesterday. The medicines that can be donated have to be without a prescription. Among the products most sought after by the campaign are gauzes, ointments for burns, serum for dehydration, vitamins and ibuprofen. The products donated will go above all to homeless people, old people and children, with a focus on covering specific needs. Volunteers are on hand during the campaign to explain which medicines are most needed and why.