Home Maryanne's Tales This Was My Difficult Experience Searching for a Particular Prescription Drug

This Was My Difficult Experience Searching for a Particular Prescription Drug

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photo: africa knows

There’s a time early this year I kept moving from pharmacy to pharmacy looking for a drug the Dermatologist had prescribed for my son’s eczema flare up.

The Dermatologist had prescribed three different drugs but for some reason, there was that one particular drug that was out of stock in all the pharmacies I went to. Yet, I couldn’t start him on the other two –without that critical missing one.

Thing is, in this Nairobi, moving from one place to another can be quite an experience. You spend a significant amount of time in traffic just to get to your destination. If you’re driving, many pharmacies are located in places where nowadays you have to pay parking fees –whether in malls, hospitals, or in the City Council slots. Then, when you finally get to where the pharmacy is located, you spend endless minutes searching for a parking spot or double parked, waiting for one to open up.

Nairobi traffic.
Nairobi traffic.

Finally, relieved, you get to the pharmacy. But then, you most likely spend more time in the queue waiting for your turn to be served. By the time you’re done with the whole process, you’ve spent almost an hour –or more. Or sometimes when you learn the price of the drug, you feel as though it’s on the higher side, so you decide to compare prices first with at least two or three more pharmacies before you make a decision. Other times, after a long wait in the queue, your turn finally arrives, only to be informed that the drug is out of stock.

That happened to me when I was searching for my son’s eczema prescription. After quite an arduous search for that specific drug that spanned days, I eventually found a pharmacy that had it –actually the last pack! I was so relieved and did a small happy dance.

But my jubilation was short-lived when I was alerted of a new problem.

It had been slightly over a week since the Dermatologist had written the prescription, and so the Pharmacist couldn’t dispense the drug. I was told that I had to go back to the Dermatologist again and get a fresh prescription. Seven days had already passed, so they just couldn’t give me the drugs. Period.

I was mortified!

I tried to plead my case, saying that in fact the reason why I had delayed getting the drug ‘within the seven days’ was because I’d been moving from pharmacy to pharmacy searching for that elusive drug in vain. I didn’t even know there was a thing like that –that a prescription is only valid for seven days. Anyway, the Pharmacist actually sympathized with me, but said those were their pharmacy rules, and rules had to be followed. Sigh. So what I did was to request him to be kind enough to save that drug for me, because I’d be back.

Suffice it to say that I had to return to the Dermatologist. And plead for her not to charge me consultation fees for ‘seeing her’ again, and getting a fresh prescription.

Eventually I got the drug and my son got sorted, but I assure you that it was such an exhausting experience!

So it was with great relief when I recently came to learn about a new way of buying medicines that is so convenient, easy, and more importantly –time saving. I’m talking about MYDAWA, which is a new e-health service that enables you to purchase medicines at your own convenience. For example, if you have a prescription such as the one I had for my son’s eczema, you can just take a photo of it using your smartphone from wherever you are, then upload it. Once uploaded, the team at MYDAWA, who include pharmacists, will verify the details and get back to you shortly.

MYDAWA-mummy-tales-prescription-2

Once confirmed, they’ll package your order in a sealed tamper-proof bag with your name labelled on it, to ensure it reaches you safely. The sealed package containing your order (medicines and other health and wellness products you may have ordered) will then be dropped off at a pharmacy of your choice and convenience. You can choose the pharmacy nearest to you, your home, or your office where you can easily pick it at a time of your convenience, such as on your way home or during your office lunch-hour break. And by the way you don’t get charged any service fees, transaction or delivery costs.

This was such welcome news to me because next time I have a prescription, I don’t have to undergo the hassle I underwent, which was very time-consuming I must say.

So if you, just like me, would like to enjoy the safety, ease and convenience of purchasing prescription medicines, over-the-counter medicines, a wide range of health, wellness and beauty products among other items, and have them delivered at the nearest pharmacy to you so that you can pick them on your way home, then click on this link and sign up for the service. You can also download the MYDAWA App here. The App will make your online purchasing of drugs so much easier.

Indeed, with the numerous commitments that characterize our daily lives as women, as moms, MYDAWA is such a welcome relief.

MYDAWA-mummy-tales-pharmacist

So, have you ever had an experience moving from pharmacy to pharmacy searching for a drug, in vain? What did the experience feel like?

For more information about MYDAWA, visit the Website: www.mydawa.com or Facebook: MYDAWA or Twitter: @MyDawaApp

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Maryanne W. Waweru is a Kenyan mum raising her two sons in Nairobi. A journalist, Maryanne is passionate about telling stories and hopes that through her writing, her readers learn something new, feel encouraged, inspired, and appreciative of what they have in their lives. Maryanne's writing focuses on motherhood, women and lifestyle. "Telling stories is the only thing I know how to do," she says.

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