ePharmacyNet
Improve access to healthcare and medicines in developing countries
Project start date : 01/01/2010
Last updated : 16/03/2022
Beneficiary country : Benin
What problem does the initiative address ?
The solution solves the problem of “pharmacy tourism” which consists of walking from pharmacy to pharmacy looking for a medicine, without success. EPharmacyNet not only allows directs you to the pharmacies which have the products you are looking for, but also points you towards those which are closest, cheapest, etc.
Detailed description of the initiative
The critical lack of pharmacies and pharmaceutical warehouses greatly increases the distance between patients and pharmacists. Without any prior information, patients are often forced to travel dozens of miles before they find the product they are looking for. The idea of ePharmacynet is to create an online platform where pharmacies can provide information on the contents of their stock as well as the prices of their medicines. This will allow patients to choose the pharmacy with the lowest cost price. EPharmacynet only allows doctors to prescribe medicines that exist in the patient’s geographical area, if necessary, to inform patients about where they can find a pharmacy that stocks the product they need. It also allows insurers to significantly reduce fraud through the electronic tracking of medical prescriptions and transactions between prescribing doctors, patients and pharmacists.
What is the proposed solution added value ?
Few solutions are currently available in developing countries that can solve this problem. ePharmacynet in particular fulfills the role of pharmacies in some areas by getting in touch with patients who are physically remote. Without ePharmacyNet, most patients would have no effective way of finding medicine in their geographical area, and due to a lack of resources, sometimes end of using traditional practices, which are barely effective to say the least, and can sometimes be dangerous. With ePharmacyNet means that doctors can prescribe products more effectively, insurers can track the transactions of their policyholders better, and the government can analyse the distribution of pharmaceutical products more easily in countries where everything is still done by hand.
2 000
Number of beneficiaries since launch
3 Full-Time equivalents
2 Employees
3 Volunteers
N/C Service providers
2 000
Number of beneficiaries since launch
Target audience
- Healthcare professionals and structures (hospitals, healthcare centres/clinics, health networks)
- Entire population
- Sick people
- Dependents/persons with disabilities
- Pregnant women
Project objectives
- Decreased mortality
- Decreased morbidity
- Reduced suffering
- Improved treatment
Materials used
- Cellular (mobile) phone
- Smartphone
- Tablet
- Computer
Technologies used
- Mobile telecommunications (without data connection)
- Internet
- Geolocation
- Mobile app (Android, iOS, Windows Phone, HTML5, etc.)
Offline use
Yes
Open source
No
Open data
Yes
Independent evaluation
Yes, evaluated independently
About the sponsor
Hsoft Africa
Hsoft Africa is a limited liability company specialising in information technology, telecommunications, telemedicine and consulting in general.
Sector : Industrial (Startups, enterprises, etc.)
Country of origin : Benin
Contact : Sponsor website Project website