Pharmacies in Morocco: Duty Pharmacies, Prices and What to Do at Night

By the Map Syndicat editorial team · About us

Every figure in this guide comes from an official text — Law 17-04, Law 65-00, the ACAPS reimbursement rules, or the Ministry of Health — or from the pharmacy directory itself. Where no official figure exists — duty hours, night prices, a 24-hour pharmacy outside Casablanca — the guide says so instead of inventing one. Duty changes every day, so this guide explains the system and how to check today; it never lists today's duty pharmacy.

What is a duty pharmacy?

A duty pharmacy (pharmacie de garde) is the pharmacy designated to stay open outside normal hours — at night, on Sundays and public holidays — so urgent medicines stay available. The duty rotates between pharmacies, sector by sector.

The duty service is a legal requirement under Law 17-04, article 111: every pharmacy must take its turn, and the law itself does not define the word duty — it only sets up the system. In plain terms, a duty pharmacy is the one open when the others are closed, so that someone who needs a medicine urgently at night or on a holiday is not left without one. Which pharmacy is on duty changes every day, and it differs from one sector of a city to another.

How does the pharmacy duty system work in Morocco?

Duty is a legal obligation on every pharmacy under Law 17-04, article 111. Opening hours and duty arrangements are set by the governor of each prefecture or province, on the proposal of the regional council of the Order of Pharmacists.

The law makes it a disciplinary offence for a pharmacist to ignore the opening hours or the duty arrangements. Cities are divided into sectors, and in each sector one or more pharmacies are designated on duty for a given slot, on a rotating rota drawn up in advance. There are two regimes: day duty, on Sundays and public holidays with extended daytime opening, and 24-hour duty, with no closing overnight. Yesterday's duty pharmacy is not today's — the rota changes daily, so a guide can explain the system but never list who is on duty.

Which pharmacy is open now near me in Morocco?

No guide can list today's duty pharmacy — the rota changes daily. Check the notice on any closed pharmacy's shopfront, call 141, or check a same-day list online, and always phone the pharmacy before travelling.

There is no official national list of duty pharmacies, and this site's directory has names, addresses and phone numbers but no hours and no duty flag — so it cannot say which pharmacy is open now. The three checks that work: the notice on the shopfront of any closed pharmacy, which must show the duty pharmacy for the sector; the national medical emergency number 141; or a same-day list such as sahha.ma, toutrabat.com or med.ma. The rota is by sector, not by city, so the nearest pharmacy by distance may belong to a neighbouring sector with a different duty pharmacy — check the sector list, not just the closest shopfront.

How do I find a pharmacy open at night or on Sunday in Casablanca, Rabat or Marrakech?

Look for a pharmacy listed as 24h/24 for the night — that is the one that stays open through the night — and for day duty on Sundays and public holidays. The method is the same in Casablanca, Rabat and Marrakech; always phone first.

On a same-day list, the entry marked 24h/24 is the one open through the night; day duty typically ends in the late evening, not overnight. On Sundays and public holidays, look for day-duty entries. No verified source gives a different method for Casablanca, Rabat or Marrakech, so do not expect city-specific rules — the sector system works the same way in all three. If you are calling for urgent medical help rather than a pharmacy, the verified national number is 141 (SAMU). Other emergency numbers often quoted alongside it were not verified from an official text in this research, so this guide does not print them.

Is there a 24-hour pharmacy in my city?

Only one 24-hour pharmacy is verified in this guide: Pharmacie Minuit in Casablanca, +212522275788. For the other nine cities in the directory, no 24-hour pharmacy is verified — check today's list rather than trusting a claim.

The directory covers 4,644 pharmacies in ten cities, and only one carries a 24-hour claim in its name: Pharmacie Minuit in Casablanca. Secondary guides claim that 24-hour pharmacies exist in the big cities, but they name none and cite no official source, so this guide does not repeat the claim or name a 24-hour pharmacy in Rabat, Marrakech, Fès, Tangier, Agadir, Meknès, Kénitra, Salé or Mohammedia. A same-day list can show a 24-hour pharmacy for today — but that is today's listing, not a permanent fact.

What is the phone number of the nearest open pharmacy?

The directory can give you the nearest pharmacy's phone number — 4,416 of 4,644 pharmacies have one (95%) — but it cannot say whether that pharmacy is open. Call first to check it is open or on duty.

Phone coverage is the directory's strength: Casablanca has 852 of 1,040 pharmacies with a phone number, and across the ten cities the figure is 4,416 of 4,644. What the directory cannot do is tell you the nearest open pharmacy, because it holds no hours and no duty flag. So use it as nearest pharmacy, call first — not as nearest open pharmacy. The only verified open-now phone number in the country is Pharmacie Minuit in Casablanca, +212522275788 — the one pharmacy whose name says it is open 24 hours.

What can a duty pharmacy dispense without a prescription?

The law recognises a class of medicines that can legally be dispensed without a prescription — but it does not list them, so this guide gives no list. The pharmacist advises on what needs a prescription and what does not.

Law 17-04, article 29, says dispensing a medicine includes advising on medicines whose dispensing is not legally subject to providing a prescription. That is the verified principle — and it is all that is verified. No official list of those medicines was read in this research, and the item lists in secondary guides were not checked against the official tables, so they are left out rather than published as fact. In practice, ask the pharmacist: they assess each request and advise on what can be dispensed without a prescription.

Is Pharmacie Al Oum on duty today?

We cannot say. Duty changes every day by sector, and several pharmacies share similar names. Check today's duty list for its sector in Casablanca, or call the pharmacy before going.

There are several pharmacies with similar names — Pharmacie Al Oum, Pharmacie Aloum, Pharmacie AlOum Khadija — and whether any one of them is on duty today depends on the daily rota for its sector, which is published only in same-day lists. One directory listing gives a Pharmacie Al Oum in Sidi Moumen, Casablanca, on +212522729703, but that listing carries no date and no duty status, so it cannot answer a today question. Check today's list for Sidi Moumen or Casablanca on sahha.ma, toutrabat.com or med.ma, or call the pharmacy first.

Do medicine prices rise at night in duty pharmacies?

Medicine prices are fixed nationally, so the price of a medicine does not depend on the pharmacy or the hour — but this guide cannot confirm whether any night supplement exists, because the secondary sources contradict each other. Check the price printed on the box.

Drug prices are regulated nationally: Decree 2-13-852 sets how the public sale price is fixed, the Direction du Médicament et de la Pharmacie sets the price framework, and Law 65-00, article 12, makes the public price of medicines the national reference tariff. The official price per medicine is published in the national drug database (BNDM). On the night question itself, some secondary guides say medicines are sold at the same official price around the clock, while others say some pharmacies apply a small night supplement — and no official text was read stating either. So take neither claim as fact: check the price on the box or in the BNDM, and query any charge above the printed public price.

What are the duty hours in Moroccan pharmacies?

There is no national duty-hours table. Hours are set for each city by the governor's order, on the proposal of the regional council of the Order of Pharmacists — so they vary by city. Check the shopfront notice or phone the pharmacy.

Law 17-04, article 111, leaves opening and closing hours to the governor of each prefecture or province, so no national table exists in the law. The guide gives the three types only: day duty, on Sundays and public holidays with extended daytime opening; night duty, through the night; and 24-hour duty, with no closing. Secondary guides quote typical ranges, but they conflict with each other — one gives day duty as 08:00 to 20:00 or 21:00, another gives 09:00 to 22:00 for Rabat — so no hours table is printed here. The only dated hours source found, a 2014 Casablanca order, is twelve years old and covers normal hours, not duty hours.

What does AMO health cover pay for medicines at the pharmacy?

Under AMO, CNSS covers 70% of the national reference tariff and CNOPS covers 70% of the public price of Morocco for admitted medicines. For a serious or long-duration illness, the patient's share is capped at 10% of the reference tariff.

The rates come from ACAPS, the insurance and social welfare regulator: CNSS reimburses 70% of the national reference tariff, and CNOPS reimburses medicines admitted to reimbursement at 70% of the Prix Public Maroc. For a serious or long-duration illness, the patient's share is capped at 10% of the reference tariff. The reference tariff for a medicine is its public price. One thing this guide does not confirm: whether those rates apply in exactly the same way to medicines dispensed by a duty pharmacy — the ACAPS text read does not say that about duty specifically, so no duty-specific reimbursement rule is published here.

What do I do in an emergency at night if no pharmacy is open?

Call 141 — the single national number for urgent medical calls (SAMU). It is the only emergency number verified from an official source in this research. For a life-threatening emergency, call 141 immediately and do not drive yourself.

141 is the national number for urgent medical calls, confirmed by the Ministry of Health, and it can direct you to the nearest duty pharmacy or to care. If no pharmacy is open, go to the nearest hospital emergency department, which is open around the clock and can prescribe. If the duty pharmacy is far away, phone it first to confirm it has the medicine in stock — night deliveries do not happen and rare medicines may be out of stock. Keep a safety stock of any vital chronic treatment, so a night gap never leaves you without it.

Pharmacies Sources & methodology