On-duty pharmacy in Marrakech, how the night rota works

If you come from a country with 24-hour chemists, the Moroccan system can catch you out. Pharmacies take turns staying open in the evening, overnight, on Sundays and on public holidays, and the local term to search for is pharmacie de garde. The one that served you last month may be dark tonight. For that reason, you will find no address list on this page, since it would go stale quickly. What stays valid is the way to check, and knowing which steps you can hand to someone else.

How the rota works

Pharmacies in a city share out the out-of-hours shifts on a schedule drawn up locally by the profession. A few practical effects follow for a visitor:

• the pharmacy on your street covers nights only when its turn comes round;
• night cover and weekend cover may fall to different pharmacies;
• some on-duty pharmacies serve customers through a hatch or a door left slightly open, so the shop can look shut from the street.

Faced with a dark shopfront, look for a bell or a lit hatch before you walk away.

Where to check tonight's list in Marrakech

At a late hour, try to confirm through two of these:

1. The door of any closed pharmacy. Many post the current on-duty pharmacies there, often the quickest source if you happen to pass one.
2. Your hotel or riad reception. Night staff know how things run locally, and they can phone for you in French or Arabic.
3. Lists published online. Check the date displayed, and call the pharmacy if the page gives a number.
4. A petit taxi driver, who will usually know which pharmacies are open in his area.

Be careful with online map listings. The opening hours shown there may ignore this week's rota.

Getting there from a riad or the Palmeraie

Marrakech spreads out well beyond its walls, and the pharmacy on call may be some way off. If you are staying inside the Médina, near Bab Doukkala or in the Mellah for example, cars cannot reach many of the lanes, so you will walk to one of the gates before you can find a taxi. Late at night, in an unfamiliar maze of alleys, that walk may not appeal, especially with a sleeping child. Villas and guesthouses in the Palmeraie sit far from any shop, so a vehicle becomes a necessity. From Targa, M'hamid or Massira, a round trip into Guéliz also eats into the night.

Weigh up the practical side. Do you have transport? Can someone stay with the person you would be leaving behind? Do you hold a prescription? When those answers make the outing awkward, you can use our pharmacy runs across Marrakech instead.

What a courier can and cannot do

The process is short. You send a photo of your prescription on WhatsApp, the service locates the nearest active on-duty pharmacy, and the courier collects your order and brings it to you, generally in under an hour. Our delivery questions and answers give 45 minutes to 1 hour as an average, depending on stock, and that figure moves with traffic and distance. The whole thing is handled discreetly.

Parapharmacy items and baby products can be collected the same way. If nappies or infant formula are what you need, see our guide to baby supplies at night.

A courier gives no advice, picks no substitute and has no say on any treatment. Medical questions belong with a doctor or pharmacist. Nobody can promise that a particular box will be on the shelf either, and if it is missing, what happens next is for the pharmacist or your doctor to decide. A prescription is required for the medicines that need one. Travellers should note that a foreign prescription may not settle the matter: the UK government advises that if a product is unavailable, a pharmacy may ask for a new prescription from a Moroccan doctor.

What to have ready before you message

A few things gathered in advance save a lot of back and forth:

• a sharp photo of the whole prescription, taken flat in good light;
• your full address, including the hotel or riad name and room if relevant, plus your WhatsApp location;
• a phone number you will answer for the whole run;
• cash, because this is cash on delivery with fees that vary by distance and address.

Your first message could read like this:

Good evening, I am sending a photo of a prescription. I am staying at a riad in the Médina, location attached, and I can meet the courier at the nearest gate. Could you collect from the on-duty pharmacy and tell me the total and estimated time before setting off?

When a delivery is the wrong call

A courier carries an order and brings no medical help. If someone's life appears to be at risk, ring for help first. The UK government's travel health advice for Morocco says to dial 150 and ask for an ambulance. For a question about a symptom or a medicine, phone a doctor or speak to the on-duty pharmacist.

For everything else, Livreur 24h runs at any hour, weekends and public holidays included. A prescription photo and an address are enough to get started on WhatsApp.