Pelebox Smart Lockers For Chronic Medication Collection

In developing markets such as South Africa, efficient access to chronic medication remains challenge and there's been a steady increase in the number of patients with non-communicable diseases (NCDs), requiring chronic therapy. A patient's experience tends to be one of long waiting times, typically above 3 hours. This poses potential adherence barriers which may lead to poor health outcomes and places a strain on the patients in terms of transport costs and loss of income.

Inclusion technology needs to play a significant role in the last mile for enabling access to chronic medication, we’ve developed Pelebox, a smart locker system that enables patients to collect their repeat chronic medication in under 36 seconds instead of waiting hours on queues at public clinics. We are leveraging the power of IOT through internet enabled smart locker to remotely track medication collection and treatment compliance while automating visibility on patient behavior and patient outcome

South Africa has world's biggest antiretroviral therapy (ART) programme for patients living with HIV and AIDS, with an estimated 7.2 million people living with HIV (PLHIV), and a projected increase to 7.5 million PLHIV by 2020. Approximately 82% of this HIV burden is in 27 of the country’s 52 districts, and about 31% is in the four biggest metropolitan areas.  There's been a steady increase in the number of patients with non-communicable diseases (NCDs), requiring chronic therapy. A patient's experience tends to be one of long waiting times, typically above 3 hours. This poses potential adherence barriers which may lead to poor health outcomes and places a strain on the patients in terms of transport costs and loss of income.

Out of the 7,2 million people living with HIV (PLHIV), only 4.6 million patients are collecting their monthly treatment on a regular basis. The TB program is ranked 3rd and the overall state chronic program has over 11.2 million patient collecting various chronic medicines from public clinics and hospitals. These long queues and inefficiency during the collection process are preventing people from sticking their treatment cycles. This challenge is also pronounced in major populated metro-cities where  over 4.3 million man-hours are lost every month due to patients waiting on long queues in South Africa.

In 2014, I (Neo Hutiri, Founder of Technovera) was diagnosed with tuberculosis. I started his 6 months’ treatment by collecting medication at my local public. My biggest challenge was not my disease, but the fact that I was losing between 3 to 5 hours every month when collecting medication due to long queues. Technovera was born after this frustrating experience. We are patients that have experienced or are experiencing this challenge of long waiting times. 

Part of the design process of this solution involved engaging other patients while sitting in the queues with us. We developed this solution while trying to solve the challenge for ourselves.  As patients, we are tired of this narrative of waiting for the system to catch up to what we need. 

By leveraging the power to technology, we are igniting the voice of other patients to co-create new and innovative approaches for access to health. Our mission is aligned with Sustainable Development Goal 3: Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages. Our solution is positioned to align with the second wave of strengthening systems linked with management programs for non-communicable diseases. As patients, we just need better efficiency when collecting treatment

To address the challenge of long waiting times, we’ve taken the approach of developing a simple technology with the aim of improving the last mile for chronic medication access by reducing the long waiting times of 3 hours to 36 seconds. 

We’ve developed Pelebox, a smart internet enabled locker system that helps patients to collect their repeat chronic medication at various collection nodes in the Metro Cities in South Africa. Pre-packed medication for a particular patient is loaded into an internet enabled smart locker, the system then sends an SMS (Text Message) with a one-time-pin (OTP) to the patients. The patient would then come to a collection unit, authenticate themselves using a one-time-pin (OTP) together with their cellphone number. A cubicle that has their medication would then pop-open. The systems keep track of all collection records and can be integrated into a patient records management system. 

Smart lockers for chronic medication work in a setting where the national health ministries in sub-Saharan Africa, needs to reach more people but are limited by the number of traditional healthcare facilities, staff shortages and higher patient volumes. The technology is 10 times cheaper than other dispensing solutions, reliable and is manufactured locally, and can be scaled into local clinic and commuter notes without needing to do any modifications to existing structures. The collection points are closer to the patient instead of needing to travel to major hospitals far away. They work really well in cities that are growing rapidly as part of an strategy to compliment the existing infrastructure to serve more patient.