Wednesday, August 31, 2016
The Herman Trend Alert
August 31, 2016
New App Prevents Pharma Waste
In Greece and some other countries around the world virtually millions of boxes of pharmaceuticals expire every year before they can be dispensed. Now, there is an audacious experiment underway in Greece to get these unused boxes of medicine into the hands and bodies of those who need them.
A new mobile app for that
The GIVMED app allows users to register their excess medicines by scanning the barcode on the package. When they do, they can choose where they want to donate their medication.
The potential for saving millions of lives
According to Greece's Panhellenic Pharmaceutical Association, 57,000,000 boxes of medicine expire every year in Greece, while social pharmacies cannot accommodate their 15,000 daily requests. This brilliant mobile application extracts all medical information from the barcodes found on the medical packaging. The app then links users with organizations, like "social pharmacies" (in the US, we would call them "welfare pharmacies") and Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) that could redistribute this medication to people in need. Greece defines "social pharmacies" as those responsible for collecting and distributing medicines to people with financial problems, free of charge.
Donors get to decide
This medication sharing app lets donors decide which medications to donate now and which ones to donate before their expiration date. Plus, it gives users updates on: 1) how many are in the community's network, 2) the drugs that have been donated, and 3) their total worth. They can also check to see which medicines are in short supply in social pharmacies, before donating. Moreover, once the user sets up the application, they also get to decide how they want to deliver their unused medications to the beneficiary organizations, either personally or by asking for assistance from the GIVMED network.
Users may create personal pharmacies
Users are even able to use the app to create their own personal pharmacies and even input a list of all their medications along with their expiration dates. That input not only helps the GIVMED beneficiaries, but it also provides them with quick access to their own current prescription lists when they visit their own healthcare practitioners.
Future possibilities of sharing apps
Though the individual state regulations prevent this particular system from working in the United States, this concept will work well in other countries around the globe, especially in developing countries. But more importantly, this concept of a sharing app has possibilities for reallocating other resources, like food or eyeglasses.
For more information on the GIVMED app, visit https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/givmed/id1071517090?mt=8
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