MEDICINE ATM URGENTLY NEEDED IN SD – SWADNU

MBABANE – It is not always that when something happens in South Africa, Swaziland gets a wake-up call.

This emanates from the fact that government is not keen to follow suit in the introduction of a Pharmacy Dispensing Unit (PDU) which is like a medicine ATM.

A PDU performs tasks usually executed by the dispensary personnel in clinics and hospitals. It is designed to minimise long queues of patients who visit hospitals to collect their medication.
From Thursday, in South Africa, some patients taking chronic medication, including antiretrovirals (ARVs) for HIV/Aids, started getting their pills ATM-style.

The medicine ATM was heralded as the first of its kind in Africa.
eNCA, a South African News channel, reported that the PDU worked like an ATM for medication, with Skype-like audio-visual interaction between patient and tele-pharmacists, cloud based electronic software and robotic technology used to dispense and label medication.

It was reported that the ATM-typed machine was developed to ensure accurate dispensing and quick collection. 
The news agency reported that a clinically stable patient on chronic medication can be given the option to collect chronic prescriptions from the PDU pharmacy.

Meanwhile, Principal Secretary in the Ministry of Health Dr Simon Zwane said the country would take its time to monitor whether the PDU delivers for the neighbouring republic.
Zwane said the two countries were operating at different scales therefore, the medicine ATM may not yet be relevant for the local population.

He acknowledged that there were challenges in local hospitals as there were long queues.
However, he noted that the ministry was already formulating means to deal with the issue.

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