Patients in Nairobi will now have genuine medicines delivered to them at a cheaper cost by ordering for them through an application set to be launched next week.
The technology-based solution dubbed MYDAWA will also help medicine manufactures know how their drug has been transport to the patient.
The costs of the medicine will be cheaper by 40 per cent.
“A patient can get his or her medicines after by taking a picture of the prescription and uploading it on the app for pharmacists to be able to dispense the medicines,” MD Tom Wood said during a media roundtable held on Wednesday.
This solution is the first of its kind to be launched.
Kenya was chosen as the destination for the launch due to internet penetration and the adoption of mobile technology in day-to-day life.
A report by the Communications Authority in 2015 shows that mobile penetration stood at 88.1 per cent with 37.8 million subscribers.
“This is a Kenyan driven solution to a global problem. This is not a problem that is unique to Kenya alone. We could have launched in Asia or Europe but Kenya was the ideal places launch it,” Wood added.
Kenya Association of Pharmaceutical Industry chair William Mwatu welcomed the application, saying it will go a long way in ensuring patients do not get counterfeit medicines circulating the market.
“When you look at the supply chain of medicines from the manufacturer to patient a lot of things happen along the way and in some cases patients end up using drugs that do not help treat their ailment,” Mwatu said.
Some of the challenges experienced in the supply chain of medicines include suspected counterfeit products, quality of the medicines, appropriate packaging and substitution of the medicines if the ones prescribed are not available.
Others include the dispensing error of the medicines where the pharmacists are unable to read the doctors’ handwriting, manufactures are not able to trace their medicines in the market and the varied costs of products in the market.
Some of the drugs that will be offered by MYDAWA include antibiotics, hypertension, high blood pressure and diabetes drugs where people may need to buy medicines consistently.
The medicines will be delivered in a sealed package to a pharmacy near the patient.
The solution will be rolled to other counties after three months. A USSD number will also be developed to patients who do not have smart phones.