South African pharmacy smart locker cuts queues, wins award
A South African has become the first from his country to win the Royal Academy of Engineering's Africa Prize, after designing a smart locker system which dispenses medicines to patients with chronic illnesses.
Pelebox was created by electrical engineer Neo Hutiri who won $25,000 ($31,136) in prize money for the UK-based award.
Hutiri told Reuters he decided to develop the technology after realizing patients were spending too much time in queues, waiting to collect medicines at healthcare facilities.
In 2014, Hutiri was being treated for tuberculosis and had to wait for at least two hours each time he went to collect refills of his medication, he said.
The lockers are stocked with prescription drugs placed there by health workers. Patients then receive a notification on their phones and use an ATM-like machine and a PIN to access the medicine.
Last year South Africa launched a similar vending machine called the "ATM pharmacy" that also gives out medicines in public hospitals.
Hutiri says winning the award came as a surprise. He is now working on channeling the prize money into developing Pelebox further and manufacturing more units.
Started in 2014, the Africa Prize for Engineering Innovation is the continent's biggest award dedicated to innovation in engineering.
(Source: Reuters)
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