‘Medication ATMs’ punted at Aids Conference

20 July 2016 - 13:01 By Tmg Digital

It’s called a PDU‚ and its aim is to dispense with queues while dispensing medicines. The Ministry of Health announced at the International Aids Conference on Tuesday that “South Africans will soon obtain their medication from self-service ATM-style machines”.“The pharmacy dispensing unit (PDU)‚ currently being piloted at Thembalethu clinic in Johannesburg‚ is a self-service machine where patients can obtain their medication in the same way people withdraw money at an ATM‚” said spokesperson Joe Maila.After registering for the service‚ a patient will be issued with “a card that’s similar to a bank card”.“To ‘withdraw’ their medication‚ users simply insert their card into the PDU machine‚ enter their PIN and select the medication they require from their prescription list‚” Maila elaborated. “The machine immediately dispenses the selected medication.”This‚ he said‚ would eliminate “the need for the patient to wait in queues”.Maila added that the “PDU also allows patients to communicate directly with a trained pharmacist directly from the machine using a built-in video conferencing function”.Other tech developments given a punt at the conference‚ Maila said‚ included:- MomConnect‚ “a free SMS service that provides pregnant mothers with regular foetal development updates throughout their term of pregnancy”;- Mothera2Mothers‚ “a service that connects new mothers to experienced mentors to help them through their pregnancy”;- Medication Adherence app‚ “which reminds users of their clinic or hospital visits and to take their scheduled medication”; and- B-Wise‚ “a youth focused online service that provides young people with health information and allows them to have their health-related questions answered by an expert adviser within 48 hours”.“These technologies have been developed to enhance public health and have been applauded as best practice‚” said Maila. – TMG Digital ..

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