‘ATM style’ medicine dispensers on the cards
This will allow people to collect their medication from self-service machines
ATM-style medicine dispensing machines will soon come to a pharmacy near you.
The government is launching the pharmacy dispensing unit (PDU) programme in Johannesburg, which will allow people to collect their medication from self-service machines, according to an announcement by the South African Ministry of Health at the International Aids Conference last week.
According to eThekwini Municipality, the service will reduce queuing time by allowing patients to obtain their medication in the same way that people withdraw money at an ATM.
After registering for the service, a card will be issued. As with an ATM, citizens will insert their card, enter a PIN number and select the medication on their prescription list. A built-in video conferencing function will also allow people to speak with a trained pharmacist.
“South Africa is running the biggest HIV treatment programme in the world. In three decades the number of patients on treatment has increased from 400,000 to over 3.4-million. However, the number of healthcare workers has not kept up with this increase, often leading to frustrated patients and lack of treatment adherence.
The biggest challenge with not adhering to treatment is that it poses a real risk of the emergence of drug-resistant HIV, in the same way drug-resistant TB came about. It is thus imperative we embrace all available measures to make it easy for people to continue with their treatment,” said minister of health, Dr Aaron Motsoaledi.
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