The Vice President, Dr. Mahamudu
Bawumia, has launched the National Electronic Pharmacy Platform (NEPP) in
Accra on Monday July 18.
The national ePharmacy, which is the first
national-scale ePharmacy platform in Africa, is a digital convergence of
licensed pharmacies across the country, which will enable Ghanaians to have
access to prescribed medicines and buy by making an order with a mobile phone
through the ePharmacy app, website or a shortcode, and have the medicine
delivered to a requested location
Launching the NEEP, Vice President Bawumia,
who challenged the Pharmacy Council to go digital in 2019 and supported the
implementation of the NEPP through his office, expressed delight at the
successful execution of the project and the immense benefits it will bring to
Ghanaians in the delivery of healthcare.
“I recall with fondness that in 2019, in line
with the government’s digitalization drive, I challenged the Pharmaceutical
Society of Ghana to take steps in ensuring that Pharmacy services are digitized
to ensure prudent regulation of the services provided in the dispensing of
medications and other services,” Dr. Bawumia said.
“Today’s event is historic for the reason
that, for the first time in our nation, we are going to deploy a National
Electronic Pharmacy Platform which will enable over 30 million Ghanaians to
have access to prescribed medicines in a more convenient, cost-effective and
quality assured manner, scaling over counterfeit and inferior medicines.”
The operationalization of the ePharmacy platform
is such that every drug request entered into the system, is controlled by a
team of professionals and registered pharmacists, who, based on the legality
and availability of the drug, dispense the medication to the patient in a
trust-worthy manner.
This, Dr. Bawumia noted, will not only make
drugs easily accessible and promote competitive pricing, it will also help
reduce the sale of illegal drugs.
“Most often, people are faced with the
difficulty of driving quite a distance just to find cost-efficient and reliable
pharmacies to purchase medications. The situation most times has led to
Pharmacy operators preying on the vulnerability of patients to inflate prices
or offer fake substitutes for the medication sought,” the Vice President noted.
“Buying online is easy and convenient. But if
you consider buying medicines online, you need to be cautious. Unfortunately,
many online shops and Internet platforms sell medicines illegally. If you buy
illegal medicines physically or online, at best you risk spending money on
something that might have no effect, at worst the medicine has serious side
effects or puts your life at risk and may result in even death.”
“The introduction of the National ePharmacy
Platform for short NEPP is meant to safely and securely make available
medicines, reduce the burden of cost and save time.”
With the ePharmacy platform linked to
regulatory bodies such as the Food and Drugs Authority, Dr. Bawumia added, it
will be easier to authenticate medicines and also address other concerns in the
delivery of medicine.
“I am particularly impressed that for
medication safety, this has been connected to the Food and Drugs Authority
database making it easy to authenticate those medicines being sold online are
approved for sale in Ghana.”
“The easy access of narcotic and dangerous
medicines will be greatly reduced through the effective control of these types
of medicines through NEPP.
“This, I believe will among other things
address four key concerns in the provision of pharmacy services; reduction in
the sale of unlicensed medicines, ensuring confidentiality of health
information, privacy of patients’ medical records, and minimizing counterfeit
and sub-standard medication in the country.”
The Vice President, who has spearheaded
Ghana’s digitalisation drive in many sectors, underscored the significance of
adding ePharmacy to other digital service in the country and its economic
potentials to both the pharmaceutical industry and the Ghanaian economy.
“The world today is moving at a pace never
imagined before. Even for those who predicted that technology will disrupt the
way goods and services move around, they did not envisage it will accelerate
this quickly. In this short period, we have witnessed the digital technological
transformation in education, retail commerce, building and construction, and
more recently in healthcare, since the COVID-19 pandemic struck.”
“In the area of health, the conversation of
contactless pharmaceutical service dispensing, has seen ePharmacy emerge as a
promising sector in offering convenience in pharmacy services for all,
irrespective of location.”
“The global ePharmacy market size in 2021 was
valued at USD52.0 billion and is expected to grow at a compound annual rate of
19.5% from 2022 to 2030. According to experts, this is due to rising
penetration of the internet across the globe, increasing number of tech-savvy
consumers, and rising consumer preference for online purchases with a
heightened focus on convenience as key factors boosting the market growth.
“With the National Electronic Pharmacy
Platform, Ghana will be part of this new pharmaceutical digital economy to
boost pharmaceutical sales and generate revenue that can be channeled into
research and other medical developments.”
“The increasing adoption of digital technologies
and e-commerce especially in the healthcare sector is anticipated to propel
overall growth. It is why government finds this platform not only important in
linking patients to the approved licensed Pharmacies, registered pharmacists,
and critical pharmaceutical services but also a critical innovation in
safeguarding the future of our youth, providing avenues for job creation, and
digital startup business innovations and economic growth,”
The Vice President, commended the Pharmacy
Council and other stakeholders involved in ensuring the laumch of “this
noble initiative.
Present at the launch were: Deputy Minister of
Health, Mahama Asei Seini, Registrar of the Pharmacy Council Dr. Audu
Rauf, President of the Pharmaceutical Society of Ghana Samuel Kow, and
representatives from the Ghana Health Service, among others.
Source: 3news.com