The State Pharmaceutical and Medical Supply Corporation (State Pharma) will begin a pilot project to deliver medicines by drone in the first quarter of next year.
The company’s Chief Commercial Officer, Ahmed Imad, announced the plan after showing journalists around State Pharma’s main medicine warehouse yesterday.
Imad said that after the pilot, State Pharma plans to use drones to deliver medicines to a large part of the country.
State Pharma was set up by the government to make it easier for the public to get medicines. It currently supplies 195 pharmacies across the country.
All pharmacies previously run by the State Trading Organization (STO) were transferred to the new company on 1 July, a handover Imad said went better than expected.
Since then, the company has focused on building up its medicine stock. Imad said supply chain challenges have now been stabilised, and most medicines not available locally are being brought in on time.
Many medicines on the essential medicines list arrived last week, and more are expected to be stocked before the end of this month.
“We are now working to deliver on time, with a target of within two weeks,” Imad said.
State Pharma’s Chief Technology Officer, Ahmed Ziyau Saeed, said the company is also working on easier ways for the public to get medicines, with plans to expand services next year, including online requests.
