4 ms·

> Big box drug stores are dinosaurs One of the few categories of store I still visit in person. Often it's stuff I want immediately, sometimes I wanna hold and

> Big box drug stores are dinosaurs One of the few categories of store I still visit in person. Often it's stuff I want immediately, sometimes I wanna hold and look at packages, sometimes it's prescriptions and it's easier to just pick those up. I used to live in Dubai, which is the "instant app delivery" capital of the universe, in my experience -- nowhere else I've been comes close, including SE Asian capitals -- I even got my annual flu jab from a nurse I ordered online from an Everything App and had it during a Zoom call. Anyway, the one type of retail that remains absolutely ubiquitous there? Drug stores, admittedly ones that you can also just WhatsApp and will deliver to you.

Scoundreller 2y ago
Middle East is huge on pharmacy. Long history there and tons of graduates (but a relatively young population).
- maeil 2y ago
  What's the (modern) history?
  - Scoundreller 2y ago
    A lotta graduates for the population and more abilities (e.g. pharmacy vaccinations have long been a thing and lighter regulation leading to dispensing without prescription (legal or not)): https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3745069/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3745069/ https://www.thenationalnews.com/uae/health/survey-finds-abu-dhabi-pharmacies-unlawfully-selling-prescription-only-medicine-1.245219 https://www.thenationalnews.com/uae/health/survey-finds-abu-... https://www.pharmacytimes.com/view/retail-pharmacy-practice-differences-in-iran https://www.pharmacytimes.com/view/retail-pharmacy-practice-... https://www.researchgate.net/publication/305425201_Antibiotic_dispensing_without_prescription_in_Jordanian_community_pharmacies_A_pharmacist's_perspective https://www.researchgate.net/publication/305425201_Antibioti... > Self- medicated ABs [antibiotics] is an issue in many countries especially among middle income people regardless of the variation of regulation, guidelines, culture or region. 60% of children patients in Yemen received ABs without prescription12 and 56% of population in Abu Dhabi, UAE according to Abasaeed et. al.7. > In Jordan two studies showed a close estimation for dispensing ABs without prescription among the Jordanian population. Here, Yousef and co-workers estimated the percentage to be around 42.5% of the population10 while Bakri and co-workers estimated the percentage around 46%
underlipton 2y ago
Having worked at one: they are actually quite miserable. The vast majority of people who enter them would much rather be someplace else, and are there because they're sick or need something that they can't get at a better price elsewhere because it's closed or too far away. AFAICT, modern big box drug stores only exist in 2024 for two reasons: old or poor people who can't or won't go elsewhere, and young people looking for snacks/beauty products/medicine on short notice.

Scoundreller 2y ago

Middle East is huge on pharmacy. Long history there and tons of graduates (but a relatively young population).

maeil 2y ago
What's the (modern) history?
- Scoundreller 2y ago
  A lotta graduates for the population and more abilities (e.g. pharmacy vaccinations have long been a thing and lighter regulation leading to dispensing without prescription (legal or not)): https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3745069/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3745069/ https://www.thenationalnews.com/uae/health/survey-finds-abu-dhabi-pharmacies-unlawfully-selling-prescription-only-medicine-1.245219 https://www.thenationalnews.com/uae/health/survey-finds-abu-... https://www.pharmacytimes.com/view/retail-pharmacy-practice-differences-in-iran https://www.pharmacytimes.com/view/retail-pharmacy-practice-... https://www.researchgate.net/publication/305425201_Antibiotic_dispensing_without_prescription_in_Jordanian_community_pharmacies_A_pharmacist's_perspective https://www.researchgate.net/publication/305425201_Antibioti... > Self- medicated ABs [antibiotics] is an issue in many countries especially among middle income people regardless of the variation of regulation, guidelines, culture or region. 60% of children patients in Yemen received ABs without prescription12 and 56% of population in Abu Dhabi, UAE according to Abasaeed et. al.7. > In Jordan two studies showed a close estimation for dispensing ABs without prescription among the Jordanian population. Here, Yousef and co-workers estimated the percentage to be around 42.5% of the population10 while Bakri and co-workers estimated the percentage around 46%

underlipton 2y ago

Having worked at one: they are actually quite miserable. The vast majority of people who enter them would much rather be someplace else, and are there because they're sick or need something that they can't get at a better price elsewhere because it's closed or too far away. AFAICT, modern big box drug stores only exist in 2024 for two reasons: old or poor people who can't or won't go elsewhere, and young people looking for snacks/beauty products/medicine on short notice.