Medication at the push of a button

NEED a pregnancy test kit? Head for a vending machine — where you will also find cough syrup and condoms.

The brainchild of a former pharmaceutical company executive, Lynton Lomas, nearly 100 tamper-proof machines have been installed at 24-hour garages and at some hospitals and universities.

“Minor illnesses have a strange way of inviting themselves in the middle of the night when pharmacies and grocers are closed,” said Lomas.

“Convenience stores are open 24/7 and this is how the machines make it easier to access over-the-counter medication.”

With 25 years’ experience in the industry, Lomas said his concept was sparked by his need for eye drops after a night of partying.

After extensive research, he signed a R50-million deal with a vending-machine manufacturer in Italy.

A spokesman for the Innovative Pharmaceutical Association of South Africa, Priscilla Sekhonyana, said it was not opposed to vending machines provided the medicines were dispensed in compliance with the law.

“One cannot overestimate the importance of the role of pharmacists in advising on selfmedication and consumers should approach professional healthcare providers if their condition is not improved by self-medication,” she said.

Costing R235 000 each, the 650kg refrigerated machines have an 80kg glass window that is vandal-proof and linked to an alarm. The machines are bolted to the ground and their payment slot can detect fake bank notes.

The first was installed at a filling station in Bedworth Park, Vereeniging.

“At universities we found toothpaste and vitamins are a huge seller, while in Bushbuckridge products like Vaseline go faster,” said Lomas.

Nearly 80 000 people have used the vending machines so far and the biggest sellers have been indigestion and headache remedies and condoms.

Similar machines in the UK dispense chronic and scheduled medications, the latter on entry of a patient code.