Humanitarian

Rome opens first pharmacy for homeless

17 Sep, 2019

Street pharmacy opens in Trastevere area of Rome.

A farmacia di strada, or street pharmacy, has opened at Vo.Re.Co., a charitable organisation which helps former prisoners and homeless people, on Via della Lungara in the Trastevere district of Rome.

The Vo.Re.Co centre already provides Italian and foreign homeless people with meals and legal advice.

Now it also has a pharmacy stocked with around 9,000 medicines thanks to a collaboration with Medicina Solidale con Assogenerici, Banco Farmaceutico and the Federation of Italian Pharmacists.

Here voluntary doctors and pharmacists prescribe treatment for the poor and marginalised, many of whom tend to avoid 'normal' medical aid or are not enrolled in the state health system.

Photo La Repubblica