TECHNICAL BRIEF | Ghana’s National Electronic Pharmacy Platform

In 2022, Ghana’s Pharmacy Council launched a National Electronic Pharmacy Platform (NEPP), which aims to serve as a single platform for originating, delivering, and regulating online pharmacy services across the country.

To date, the NEPP has onboarded over 200 online and retail pharmacies, and processed 154,000 prescriptions valued at approximately $1.2M.

The platform has been integrated with all private health insurance companies, as well as with the National Health Insurance Authority (90% integration), and integration with the Ghana Health Service Lightwave EMR has made significant strides, reaching 70% completion.

As the NEPP expands, it seeks to onboard physical pharmacies (both retail and hospital), providing novel visibility into product  prescribing and dispensation nationwide, enabling improved public health planning and decision-making. 

The NEPP is an ambitious example of government-led innovation that can aims to transform digitization in the health sector. If successful, it has the potential to increase visibility and improve public health decision-making. Already, regulatory bodies from several countries across the African continent have expressed interest in adapting aspects of the NEPP to their contexts. Of course such initiatives will experience significant challenges on the pathway to sustained impact at scale from a technical, political, and market shaping perspective.

This technical brief describes the NEPP’s functions, vision, and areas to watch. 

Interested in novel approaches to expand the impact of digital health? Get in touch!