Travelling home from Lebanon with medication: quantities, documents and keeping it cold

Many people treated in Beirut fly home to Baghdad, Erbil, Basra, Amman or Kuwait with weeks or months of treatment. That's normal and legitimate, as long as it's for personal use and prescribed. Here is what we tell every traveller at our counter.

Rule one: personal use

Laws differ by country, but the principle is nearly the same everywhere: travellers may carry their own medicine in a quantity that fits their personal treatment, with proof it was prescribed to them. A quantity covering the duration written on the prescription usually passes without trouble. Quantities that look like trade are what raise questions. If in doubt, check your country's customs or health ministry guidance before you travel.

The papers that stay with the medicine

• The prescription in your name as it appears on your passport, with the medicine's name, strength, dose and duration.
• A short medical report from the treating doctor, especially for long treatments or injections.
• The original sealed pack and its leaflet. Don't decant tablets into other containers to save space.
• The pharmacy invoice. We give you a stamped one, and it shows the medicine came from a licensed source.

Controlled medicines need extra care

Strong painkillers, some nerve and sleep medicines, and ADHD treatments are tightly controlled everywhere, and some can't be brought into certain countries at all. If your treatment is in this group, ask your doctor for a detailed report, and check with your country's embassy or customs before travelling. We dispense these medicines only on a proper prescription, and don't recommend carrying them without full documents, however small the quantity.

How to know the medicine is genuine

• Buy only from a licensed pharmacy, never from an intermediary or online.
• The pack is sealed, with the batch number and expiry printed clearly and matching the blister or bottle inside.
• The medicine is registered with Lebanon's Ministry of Public Health and imported through its authorised agent. Ask the pharmacist; we'll show you.
• The expiry date covers your whole course. We check this when dispensing; check it too.

Hand luggage, not the hold

An aircraft hold gets colder and hotter than many medicines tolerate, and checked bags get delayed and lost. Put all of your treatment in your carry-on. Liquid medicines over the usual limit normally pass when you show the prescription, but tell the security officer before they ask.

Insulin and refrigerated medicines

The flight from Beirut to Baghdad or Amman is short, but the journey from pharmacy to home is longer than it looks: hotel, car, airport, waiting, then another drive. For medicines stored between 2 and 8 °C:

• Buy them on your last day before travelling, not the first. We'll keep them in our fridge until you come by.
• Use a medicine cool bag, and don't let the medicine touch ice directly. Insulin that has frozen is ruined, even after it thaws.
• Ask the hotel to keep it in a fridge, and set yourself a reminder for checkout. It gets forgotten more often than you'd think.

Before you leave: save the pharmacy's number

Treatment questions come up after you're home, not before: a missed dose, a side effect, or a course running low and you want to know if it'll be available on your next visit. Our WhatsApp +961 81 681 445 works from any country, and a pharmacist answers.

We don't send medicines outside Lebanon or sell them online. We dispense them here, at the counter, and make sure you know how to take them. Planning your trip? Read the guide for patients coming to Beirut.