NextBillion - An Initiative of the William Davidson Institute at the University of Michigan

Wednesday, March 6, 2019

Pharmacies and the delivery of prescription medication are both undergoing significant change, and much of the credit for that can be directly or indirectly attributed to the rise of eCommerce and digital payments.

The latest development?

The deployment in South Africa of what some observers are calling ATMs for medicine.

A recent report from the Financial Times offers one of the better descriptions of the project, meant to ease certain pressures on the South African healthcare system and provide more options for consumers to get the medication they need without having to take too much time off work or waste time traveling to, and waiting inside, doctors’ offices. More specifically, the machines, or what can reasonably be described as self-service pharmacies, also could “give patients with chronic illnesses such as HIV, hypertension and diabetes easier access to medication.” South Africa has the highest number of people with HIV of any country.

Photo courtesy of Right ePharmacy.