Kenya’s E-Pharmacy Revolution Needs More Than a Click
Kenya has, on paper, a relatively comprehensive regulatory framework for e-pharmacies. The country scores highly on international measures of regulatory completeness, with rules covering licensing, prescription handling, medicine information, controlled medicines, data security and professional oversight.
Nairobi, Kenya - A recent policy brief from Strathmore Business School’s Prism Centre highlights a paradox in Kenya’s burgeoning online pharmacy market. While the regulatory framework is comprehensive, it appears to be falling short in translating to safe practices. With the ease of ordering medicine via a phone, the accountability of ensuring the correct prescription, checking for allergies or pregnancy, and verifying product authenticity becomes a concern.
The policy brief, 'E-Pharmacy in Kenya: Regulation, Practice and Performance,' delves into the discrepancies between Kenya's regulatory expectations and actual e-pharmacy practices. Led by Dr. Sammy Masibo, the research reveals that although 81% of purchases with correct prescriptions are dispensed appropriately, a significant 72% of prescription-only medicine dispenses occur without valid prescriptions.
Even more alarming, 87% of purchases involving risky requests, such as overdose or improper use during pregnancy, are dispensed. Notably, none of the platforms conducted pre-dispensing screenings for pregnancy, allergies, or contraindications. The investigation also found that most tested medicines met quality standards, but 25% of erythromycin samples and several falsified Augmentin samples failed potency checks.
Moreover, only 42% of e-pharmacies provided comprehensive medicine information, highlighting a gap in patient education. While e-pharmacies tend to dispense prescription medicines less inappropriately than brick-and-mortar pharmacies, the root issue lies not with the digital platform itself but within the broader retail pharmacy sector.
The study suggests that regulators collaborate with larger, more regulated e-pharmacies to uplift industry standards. Proposed measures include public registers of licensed e-pharmacies, mandatory health safety code display, prescription uploads, and enhanced electronic prescription systems, alongside stronger supply-chain controls and regulatory coordination.
The crux of the research lies in the need to enforce existing regulations effectively in the digital pharmacy landscape.
Written by urgent.news from Capital FM Kenya's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
