UAE, Dubai, August 2, 2017

The Dubai Health Authority (DHA) inaugurated on Wednesday a smart pharmacy with a robot for dispensing and prescribing medication in Dubai Hospital.  

This is the first-of-its-kind smart pharmacy in the Middle East and a second of its kind in the DHA, as the authority launched a smart pharmacy at Rashid Hospital last January.

The robot can store up to 35,000 medicines and dispenses around 12 prescriptions in less than one minute.  

The robot dispenses the prescribed medication with a click of a bottom based on a barcode, minimising any human error.

His Excellency Humaid Al Qatami, Chairman of the Board and Director General of the DHA announced that the authority will be adopting the robot in all DHA hospitals
Al Qatami added that the robot is one of the latest smart technologies adopted by the authority to meet the 2016/2021 strategy, which aims to achieve a happy and healthy society.

The smart pharmacy was inaugurated in the presence of Dr Ali Al Sayed, the Director of the Pharmaceutical Services Department of DHA, Dr Abdul Rahman Al Jasmi CEO of Dubai Hospital and Dr Khaldoon Walid Nabhan, Acting Director Finance and Administrative affairs at Dubai Hospital.

Dr Al Sayed said the robot can dispense up to 12 prescriptions in less than one minute, reducing customer’s waiting time. He added that the robot dispensing process will be paper free as the robot will store the prescription as soon as the doctor documents it electronically.

He added that depending on the robot to dispense the medication, would allow the pharmacist to focus on giving the customers the correct instruction on how to take the medication.   

Al Qutami said the DHA is adopting a fully integrated smart system for its pharmaceutical services that include a barcode system in all its pharmaceutical transactions in DHA hospitals and health centers.

The DHA is the first to implement the barcode smart system in the UAE last April, which aims to ensure the safety of patients by giving each medicine a barcode, hence reducing the chances of any mistakes when dispensing medication.

The authority is implementing the new system in coordination with the biggest international companies that supply medication and by using the latest technology that the authority adopts in managing the health sector especially in the pharmaceutical department.

Al Qutami also said that the authority has adopted a smart system that monitors the cold chain of pharmaceuticals to preserve the quality and safety of medication.

Monitoring of cold chain especially when it comes to medication is considered one of the most important global issues and one of the biggest challenges that international health organizations face as it directly affects the quality, safety and the effectiveness of the medication. 

The international-standard smart system that monitors and tracks the temperatures of medication through the installation of smart devices and tablets that can be controlled and tracked electronically. These systems aim to guarantee a continuous cold chain, which will maintain the quality and safety of pharmaceutical medication. 

-Ends-

For further information, please contact:
Mahmoud Al Ali 
Head of Media
Dubai Health Authority 
myalali@dha.gov.ae
+9714 219 7260

Kamakshi Gupta and Noor Nazzal
Communications Analysts- Media Dept.
Dubai Health Authority 
klgupta@dha.gov.ae 
nnnazzal@dha.gov.ae
+9714 2197455

About the Dubai Health Authority: 
The Dubai Health Authority (DHA) was created, in June 2007, by Law 13 issued by His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE, Ruler of Dubai, with an expanded vision to include strategic oversight for the complete health sector in Dubai and enhance private sector engagement. His Highness Sheikh Hamdan Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Deputy Ruler of Dubai and UAE Minister of Finance is the President of the Dubai Health Authority and His Excellency Humaid Al Qatami is the Chairman of the Board and Director-General of the Dubai Health Authority.

The DHA’s aim in Dubai is to provide an accessible, effective and integrated healthcare system, protect public health and improve the quality of life within the Emirate. This is a direct translation of the objectives of the Dubai Strategic Plan 2015 launched by His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum. Keeping the strategic plan in mind, the DHA’s mission is to ensure access to health services, maintain and improve the quality of these services, improve the health status of nationals, residents and visitors and oversee a dynamic, efficient and innovative health sector.

In addition to overseeing the health sector for the Emirate of Dubai, the DHA also focuses on providing services through DHA healthcare facilities including hospitals (Latifa, Dubai, Rashid and Hatta), specialty centres (e.g. the Dubai Diabetes Center) and DHA primary health centres spread throughout the Emirate of Dubai.

The main pillars of service delivery at DHA health facilities are quality, efficiency, patients and staff.  It is our aim to maintain and improve the quality and efficiency of DHA health services. An important aspect of the service delivery strategy is to focus on patients, their needs and satisfaction as well as attract, retain, nurture and support outstanding staff.

Prior to the establishment of the DHA, the Department of Health and Medical Services (DOHMS), which was established in 1973, was the functioning authority that almost exclusively focused on health service delivery.

© Press Release 2017