Dubai Health Authority(DHA) to deliver medicines to patients at doorstep.

Dubai, United Arab Emirates, November 12, 2014: The Dubai Health Authority will deliver medicines to patients at their doorstep, said a top health official.

Dr. Ali Sayed, the Director of Pharmaceutical Services Department at the DHA said that the move is aimed to provide patients with convenience. “All Dubai Health Authority  pharmacies will soon begin to provide DHA patients with an option of home delivery of their medicines.  DHA pharmacies provide patients with medications for three months at a stretch, however, some patients need the medicines for an extended period of time such as six months or more. Instead of patients having to come back to us to collect the medicines, they will have a home delivery option. We will ensure medicines are delivered a week prior to the end of the three month period.”

He said this service will help ensure patients continue taking their medications without a break and is convenient especially for patients who live in far off areas.

He added the move will also help elderly patients.  “Many elderly patients cannot visit the pharmacy personally for various reasons, including health and transportation problems and this service will particularly benefit them.”

DHA pharmacies have approximately 1500 medicines and that the Authority procures new approved medicines on a regular basis to ensure doctors have flexibility while prescribing medicines and so that patients have access to the latest medicines.

The DHA is also in the process of implementing smart pharmacies across its health facilities. The smart pharmacy system uses a robot to arrange medicines and dispense them. Pharmacists simply need to store medicines into the robot's vault before the machine sorts out the medicines according to the near date of expiry and arranges them in specific shelves based on the barcode of the medicines. The machines dispense the medicines and the pharmacist gives the medicines to the patient. The system will cut the patient waiting time by 90 per cent and is highly beneficial to both healthcare facilities and patients.