Smart meds dispenser wins RAEng Africa Prize

Pelebox is a smart locker system for distributing prescriptions to patients with chronic conditions while easing the administrative burden on healthcare staff. A wall of digitally controlled lockers is filled with medicines for different patients, with each patient given a single-use pin to open a locker and gain access to their prescription.

The platform gives patients access to their medicine within 36 seconds, compared with an average of 3.5 hours it takes in other healthcare facilities. It’s claimed that the invention could dramatically cut waiting times at public clinics for the 4.7 million South Africans who must collect antiretroviral drugs each month, reducing HIV death rates across the country.

Hutiri, 31, is the first ever South African to win the RAEng’s award and will take home a winner’s prize of £25,000. Four finalists from across sub-Saharan Africa delivered presentations at an awards ceremony in Kampala, Uganda, on 4 June 2019, with the Africa Prize judges and a live audience voting for the most promising engineering innovation.