Pharmacist Day in Iran

The day focuses on the importance of pharmacists, and it honors how much they impact our health and well-being. They do much more than dispense medication.

Pharmacists can give us health advice and tips, including how to take multiple medications. They know about drug therapy effectiveness and can teach us about medical devices we use at home.

Pharmacist Day, is an Iranian professional holiday celebrated on the 5th day of the month of Shahrivar, which corresponds to August 27 in the Gregorian calendar. It commemorates the birthday of Abū Bakr Muhammad ibn Zakariyyā al-Rāzī, a renowned Persian physician, alchemist, and philosopher.

In the Western world, Razi is known by his Latinized name Rhazes or Rasis. His medical works were translated into Latin during 10th to 13th century and had a profound influence on medical education in the Latin West.

Razi’s works were of great importance for the development of pharmacy as a science. In his manuscripts, he introduced the use of “mercurial ointments” and described the apparatus, such as mortars, phials, spatulas, and flasks, which were used in pharmacies until the early 12th century. Some alchemical operations described in his text “The Secret of Secrets” contributed to the development of pharmacy.

Razi’s birthday is celebrated in Iran as Pharmacy Day or Pharmacist Day. The development of pharmaceutical industry in Iran began in 1921, when the then-minister of Foreign Affairs opened the Pasteur Institute of Iran in Tehran. There are more than 90 pharmaceutical companies in Iran. 22 of them are controlled by a holding company affiliated to the Ministry of Welfare that possess a 40% of total pharmaceutical production in the country.