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Strengthen the traceability of the drug circuit.
Every year, fraud and diversion linked to psychotropic drugs cause heavy losses in Algeria, both in health and economic terms. To remedy this, the National Union of Community Pharmacists (SNAPO) is calling for the rapid entry into force of electronic prescriptions, a tool considered essential for strengthening the traceability and security of the drug circuit.
Speaking on the sidelines of a meeting organized in Algiers by the Association of Algerian Pharmaceutical Distributors (Adpha), SNAPO spokesperson Karim Merghemi underlined the urgent nature of this reform. “Electronic prescription is a necessity. It will ensure the traceability of psychotropic medications and guarantee that they are delivered only to patients who really need them,” he said.
According to him, pharmacists are often faced with falsified or questionable prescriptions, which are difficult to verify under the current system. The establishment of a centralized digital platform will “put an end to these practices” and will strengthen the safety of healthcare professionals, who are often exposed to risky situations. The union also warns against certain forms of organized diversion, where individuals consult several doctors on the same day in order to obtain several prescriptions for psychotropic drugs, then resold on the parallel market. “This is a serious trend which directly fuels drug trafficking,” warned Mr. Merghemi.
For SNAPO, the legal conditions are met. Law 23-05, adopted in 2023, provides for the creation of a national electronic directory of prescriptions relating to narcotics and psychotropic drugs. This register, placed under the authority of the Ministry of Health, should be accessible to practitioners, pharmacists, control services, customs and judicial police. However, two years after the adoption of the text, the implementing decrees are still awaited. The union believes that now is the time to take action.
At the same time, the government announced its intention to create a national digital platform dedicated to the management of community pharmacies. This system aims to improve stock monitoring, the availability of medicines and the traceability of psychotropic drugs and antibiotics, as part of a broader approach to modernizing the pharmaceutical sector.
The president of SNAPO, Sami Tirache, indicated last September that the project is technically ready. The part reserved for pharmacists is already functional, allowing authentication and verification of prescriptions in real time. “All that remains is to finalize the module intended for doctors, while ensuring the protection of personal data,” he said.
If these projects were to come to fruition, they would profoundly transform the management of medicines in Algeria. SNAPO considers that the digitization of prescriptions constitutes a strategic lever to make the drug chain more reliable, fight against trafficking and protect pharmacists.
Ultimately, this system could reduce the risks of diversion, particularly of products such as ecstasy, and guarantee that only patients truly concerned have access to these treatments subject to strict control.