CAIRO - What do certain companies and vendors in Egypt do to sell their products, if they are not better than others' products? Whether he is really good or bad, he is one of those merchants who prey on many Egyptians, who believe that anything linked to tradition or religion is ‘perfect and worthy'. Outside one of his pharmacies, a group of women queue, waiting to consult the doctor. When they ask for the doctor (the pharmacist), his assistant secretary says that he is not around, but there are other pharmacists available, whom he has trained. "I pay 200LE [approximately $28] for hagama. It is safe and, if it doesn't do you any good, it won't harm you," says an old woman waiting her turn. "Why not trying the herbal remedies that are believed to have been used by the Prophet Mohamed (PBUH) and mentioned in his sayings?" asks Amani Abdel-Raouf, a mother-of-two, also standing in the queue. Amani, who doesn't mind giving such remedies a try instead of going to the doctor, says, however, that she might also treat her husband with these remedies, but not their children, because they are very young, so she would send them to the doctor's. Another woman tells the assistant that she want to meet the doctor because she suffers from diabetes and needs to be examined. But the assistant tells her that the doctor doesn't examine diabetics. He only recommends herbal remedies that, if she takes them for three months, will cure her. "Nobody can treat diabetes or other diseases without examining analyses and tests of the patient's blood and urine and giving him an X-ray," says Doctor Ashraf Ali, a stomach specialist. "Unfortunately, some people open herbal shops then call them pharmacies. These shops must be closed, as they are very harmful," he warns. Dr Ali believes that the problem is partially due to the high percentage of illiteracy in Egypt, as well as the way these opportunists promote their products under the guise of religion. "We need a campaign to help people understand how harmful it is to use suspicious medicinal products. People should be aware that they will only make their condition worse by using such things. "There are many genuine herbal medicines, but they have been exposed to thorough scientific research and examination. But the people who run these herbal shops ignore such research. They think only about money," Dr Ali explains.
