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Medicines in Turkey

01.10.2021
Reading time: 2 minutes
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Summary

Turkish medicines and pharmacies in Turkey.

How to choose and bring medicines from Turkey? How do pharmacies work in Turkey?

Everything you need to know about Turkish pharmacies and medicines is here! 

Pharmacies in Turkey

Turkish medicines and pharmacies in Turkey.

Pharmacy in Turkish "Eczane". Pharmacy signs in Turkey are always red..

Counterfeiting medicines in Turkey is punishable by law to the fullest extent. Therefore, here you can be sure of their excellent quality. Those who have bought medicines here at least once know this, and instead of souvenirs for friends, they bring Turkish vitamins and medicines.

Pharmacy chains are banned in Turkey, so drug prices in pharmacies may vary. 

The most comfortable prices are usually in those that are located far from tourist places. If you buy a lot of drugs, you can get a serious discount!

Of course, in this case, it is better if you have a person next to you who knows Turkish very well and can hint that you are not a tourist.

How do Turkish pharmacies work?

There are no 24-hour pharmacies in Turkey. All pharmacies are open from 8.30-9.00 to 18.00 (some pharmacies are open until 19.00). Sunday is a day off 

But what about in an emergency, if you need to buy medicines in the evening or at night?

To do this, in each district there are a couple of duty pharmacies that work at night, including weekends. 

You can find the one closest to you through the app "Nöbetçi eczane". 

Also, according to the law, every pharmacy on non-working days must have a complete list of city pharmacies on duty for the weekend.

In Turkey, you cannot buy antibiotics without a prescription. But you can buy many drugs that are hard to find in the CIS countries or that can be found, but their cost there is sky-high.

For example, this applies to many drugs for cancer patients, hepatitis patients (protectors for the liver).

Medicines not sold in Turkey

But there are also medicines that, on the contrary, can be bought in Ukraine or Russia, but they are not sold in Turkey:

  • drugs that have only been tested on animals and have not been tested on humans
  • medicines containing any part of the animal body. For example Actovigin, which contains the blood of calves. Such medicines are not produced in Turkey due to religious reasons.
  • there are no Ayurvedic preparations because the Turkish Ministry of Health does not recognize Ayurveda
  • there are nootropic drugs here, but in very limited quantities. Since the side effects of nootropics may exceed their usefulness
  • drugs with unproven effectiveness, such as brilliant green, chlorophyllipt, malavit

You can find more useful and important information about life in Turkey by subscribing to our YouTube and Instagram channels!

Be healthy!


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Yildirim Ozden - Managing Director
Yildirim Ozden
Managing Director
+90 542 790 75 07
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