Medicine for Someone Else’s Pain

 Medicine for Someone Else’s Pain

Medicine for someone else’s pain is a fundraising campaign initiated by Medecins sans frontieres. The campaign was initially launched in Spain and, later on, in Greece. 
The concept is simple but incredibly powerful. "In the first world, as we call our selves, if we have a pain, we take a pill. What happens to those who don't have that pills but are still hurting? Could WE take a pill for THEIR pain.


This campaign brought sales of 3 million cases in the first few months in Spain. The money gathered there were used for the treatment of Changas disease in Bolivia and the HIV Zimbabwe.

In Greece the campaign is only a few months "old" and I haven't managed to find statistics about the income and the use. What I do know is that the price for a package of gum with honey and thyme, which represents the pill that you take for the pain of others, costs 1,6 Eur. Out of these money 1 Eur goes to Medecins sans frontieres. 

What's interesting is that the campaign have been launched in the two most affected by crisis countries from Europe: Spain and Greece. Could it be that people are more sensitive to other people's pains when they suffer themselves? That is also the point of the "Call to Action Video" made in Spain addressing the Greek public.

The Call to Action - TV Spot

Here you can find the list of pharmacies that sell "Pill for Other People's Pain" in Greece.
Official site of the campaign for Greece
Official site of the campaign for Spain