By Anna Goldschmidt
Supported by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) and the North-South Bridges Foundation and an online platform, drugs can be delivered directly to patients in remote rural areas of Cameroon. This great new project will save the rural population long, dangerous and expensive journeys to the city. A cooperation with “Pharmacists without borders” is planned for the training of personnel in the handling of medicines.
The African diaspora association Brücke e.V. in Berlin and its partner organization Team-at-Solutions in Douala are developing a digital platform which started in October 2020 with the aim of better supply of drugs and medical supplies to rural areas in Cameroon. With the help of “eDrugs”, for the first time individually ordered drugs will be brought directly from the city of Douala to 4 villages.
Orders and delivery services will alleviate the harsh living conditions of the rural population. The project is carried out by the Cameroonian Incubator Team-at-Solutions together with the Brücke e.V. association. It is funded by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development BMZ and the Foundation Nord-Süd-Brücken. The drug delivery phase will take place from February to July 2021. Initially, 4 villages in the Coastal region will be involved, where a total of around 70,000 people will benefit from the new service.
According to a spokesman of the organisation, “An expansion to other regions is planned. In each of the 4 villages an eDrugs hub will be established at one of the local health stations. In the future, villagers will be able to order and pick up medicines here by cell phone or tablet. They will be supported by staff at the health centres. The eDrugs hubs are equipped with tablets and internet-compatible TV sets.
Local health campaigns are being conducted to draw attention to the new service. After being ordered by individual persons, a collective order is sent to a pharmaceutical wholesaler. This is picked up there and then converted back into individual orders and packaged. Usually the orders are then delivered to the eDrugs hubs the very next day
For more information please contact:
Anna Goldschmidt – www.bruecke-ev.org