Human Social Pharmacy 1 -Religious Pharmacy-

Abstract

Religious pharmacy is a new subject in the field of Human Social Pharmacy and is defined as pharmacy related to religion. The author first selected the eight major religions: Shinto, Buddhism, Christianity, Judaism, Islam, Hinduism, Confucianism, and Taoism. He then focused on 18 events related to religious pharmacy that are included in the encyclopedia, History of Pharmacy, which was edited by him and associates in 2016. The division of these events by religion are as follows: Shinto, 3; Buddhism, 7; Christianity, 5; Brahmanism (ancient Hinduism), 1; Buddhism-Hinduism, 1; and Taoism, 1. Based on analyses, 9 of the 18 events involved religious medicines and the remaining events involved Gods, Buddha and men related to pharmacy. Next, the effective functions of religious pharmacy are discussed; especially that of Love, which is a requirement for being a pharmacist as a member of a medical team both at present and in the future. Finally, the author suggests how religious education could be incorporated into the curriculum for pharmacy students.