BAC water in South Africa

LilaSoren

LilaSoren

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I realize there aren’t many of us here, but I’m making this post so it’s easier to find—maybe 1 of the other 3½ Saffas around will spot it and give a girl a hand 😅

I’m in South Africa, and getting bacteriostatic water has been way harder than I expected. Locally, needles, syringes, sharps bins, alcohol swabs and similar items are no problem to buy, but bac water is a real hassle.

As things stand, the only route I’ve come across is 1 compounding pharmacy (and yes, that’s the only 1), prescription only, and the price is wild (roughly $23 USD / ±R400+ for a mere 5 ml).

Has any other South African managed to find Hospira bacteriostatic water at a more sensible price, or is this simply how it’s categorized in this country? Since I intend to use peps for the next few years, my only other idea is to pick some up while traveling, though I’m not sure how that would go over at customs if my luggage were absolutely packed with 30ml vials of water lol.

I’d really like to know what other South Africans are doing about this.
 
Hi,

I got 2 x 30ml Hospira vials shipped from the US through MyUS. All in, it came to roughly R800 once delivered, but local customs held onto it and asked for additional details because the package was marked as non-prescription medication.

I replied with the literature and explained that the contents are essentially sterile water containing 0.9% benzyl alcohol, meant for diluting topical creams and serums that we use as a skin spray. To my surprise, they let it go.

I only bought 2 because I didn't want to risk losing money, though I should have gone for 5 since the BAC turned out to be the least expensive item. If you're thinking about giving this a shot, I'd be happy to share some of the costs and put in an order for another 2 or 3 vials with you.
 
spookman said:

Hi,

I got 2 x 30ml Hospira vials shipped from the US through MyUS. All in, it came to roughly R800 once delivered, but local customs held onto it and asked for additional details because the package was marked as non-prescription medication.

I replied with the literature and explained that the contents are essentially sterile water containing 0.9% benzyl alcohol, meant for diluting topical creams and serums that we use as a skin spray. To my surprise, they let it go.

I only bought 2 because I didn't want to risk losing money, though I should have gone for 5 since the BAC turned out to be the least expensive item. If you're thinking about giving this a shot, I'd be happy to share some of the costs and put in an order for another 2 or 3 vials with you.
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What I keep running into is the rules governing liquid imports here. Since it gets intercepted nearly every time, even the regular suppliers won't send their Bac water — so how would a forwarding service actually get around that? And if the packaging label is what caused the shipment to be held, would it be reasonable to think that swapping it for a different label would make seizure less likely?
 
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