Dubai
Many countries are suffering from various natural disasters, due to which people are being deprived of basic needs, such as food, clothing and shelter. Even medicines have a place in this list and it is alarming how many medicines go to waste on a daily basis.
I noticed this when I had to clean my house this summer and found that a lot of unused medicines were reaching their expiry date and would soon be disposed. On the other hand, there may be millions worldwide who do not have access to basic medication. Wastage of medicine not only leads to abuse of medical insurance claims, but as an environmentalist, I believe careless disposal of excess medicine poses a serious threat to the environment and damages local ecosystems.
My friends and I decided to initiate a ‘Medicine Donation Drive’, where each of us collected unused, unexpired medicines from our relatives as well as friends and donated them to the Al Ihsan Charity Association in Ajman. The charity and hospital checks the suitability of the medicines and eventually gives it to patients in need, free of cost.
These donations could help reduce people’s financial burden, especially those with chronic diseases who are in need of treatment throughout the year.
We planned this initiative as a part of celebrating Eid in a memorable way, particularly in this ‘Year of Giving’. We plan to conduct such initiatives at regular intervals and hand over these medicines for the benefit of the needy. Through this initiative, I believe a seed of generosity has been planted in the minds of participants as well as readers.
— The reader is a student,
based in Dubai.
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