From the devaluation of the Egyptian pounds, which made prices of imported drugs skyrocket, to the government's raise of  locally-produced drugs' prices three months later, Egyptian patients have been struggling to find and afford medicine.

In an effort to provide a solution in Egypt's northern capital Alexandria, 24-year-old Engineering Graduate Mina Mikhail worked alongside his colleague Yohanna George for the past year to launch of their brand new app El Roshetta, a mobile platform that connects patients to Alexandria's biggest pharmacies. The app launched in early July and, in less than a month, has racked up over 500 subscribers.

El Roshetta is designed to search the database of most pharmacies for the medicine searched by users, effectively locating and delivering the desired drug. It also features a separate 'Rare Drugs' search option for imported or unavailable medicine, like chemo-therapy drugs. 

"The high prices and shortages of critical medicine inspired us to launch the app. All anyone needs to do is to upload a picture of the doctor's note or type in the name of the medicine they need, and we'll find the pharmacies in which it's available and have it delivered to their doorstep," says Co-founder Yohanna George.

Main photo by @MO4Network's #MO4Productions.

Photographer: Seif Mansour.