Ghana National Electronic Pharmacy Platform, otherwise known as the e-Pharmacy platform, has come alive, making it accessible to the public.
Announcing the full operationalisation of the initiative on his Facebook page, after a successful six-month pilot, Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, who spearheaded the e-pharmacy with stakeholders of the pharmaceutical industry, expressed delight at the convenience it will bring to Ghanaians, as well as its expected boost to the pharmaceutical industry.
The E-Pharmacy is a platform of registered pharmacies, which allows the Ghanaian public the ease of uploading and buying prescribed medicines on the platform and getting them delivered to their locations, once they register on the platform with their Ghana card.
The e-pharmacy platform, adds to the numerous digitalisation initiatives, which have been successfully implemented in the past six years including the successful medical drone delivery service, which delivers essential drugs in real-time through drones to remote parts of the country.
Dr. Bawumia in his announcement recounted the journey of the creation of the platform which started in 2019.
“I challenged the Pharmaceutical Society of Ghana (PSGH) to take steps in ensuring that Pharmacy services are digitized through the introduction of a national scale e-pharmacy platform.
The Pharmacy Council took up the charge (with coordination from my office) and I was honored to launch the Ghana National Electronic Pharmacy Platform (GNEPP) in July 2022.
After, a successful pilot, I am delighted that today, the GNEPP goes live and Ghana becomes the first country in Africa and one of only a few countries in the world with an operational national scale e-pharmacy platform,” he expressed.
With GNEPP, after registering with the Ghanacard, any prescription can be uploaded onto the platform via mobile phone through https://www.gnepplatform.com/ (or through a USSD code).
Registered users can find which pharmacies are close to them, have the medicines and compare the prices of the medicines across different pharmacies.
“Using your mobile phone, you can order the medicine, pay for it, and have it delivered at home through your digital address or pick it up. You can also be sure that the drugs are not fake because the GNEPP platform is integrated with the FDA platform,” Dr. Bawumia indicated.
He explained that with the National Electronic Pharmacy Platform, Ghana will be part of the new pharmaceutical digital economy to boost pharmaceutical sales and generate revenue. GNEPP will also result in less “Wahala” for Ghanaians in the pharmacy space.
“My thanks to the Minister for Health, the Pharmacy Council, the Pharmaceutical Society of Ghana, the NHIA, FDA, Medical and Dental Council, HeFRA, Ghana Nursing, and Midwifery Council, Allied Health Professions Council, and the private sector partners for their leadership in making this possible for Ghana. It is a major feat,” he said.