MedEnhanz gives doctors quicker access to drug information

MedEnhanz is a product of a partnership involving an e-commerce expert and a foreign-based Nigerian physician.

In an exclusive interview with HumanIPO, Wole Faroun, who also founded WebMallNG, said the decision to launch MedEnhanz stemmed from the realisation of the need for a tool to make access to drug information more easily accessible.

“There are many drugs and it is sometimes difficult or almost impossible for a doctor to know it all. But with this tool, they now have a platform that allows them to easily access all the necessary details of a particular drug agent before prescribing such to their patients,” he said.

On the issue of the peculiar nature of individual patient’s pharmacokinetics and influence of drug tolerance, resistance and pharmacogenetics, he said the platform also allows the users to access latest scientific publications on the drugs.

There are currently around 1,000 users on the platform, which is free although annual fees will be implemented in the future.

While a final decision on the cost of using the platform has not been fixed yet, he said it would be around NGN15,000 (US$95) to use the service annually.

When asked what measures are in place to ensure the platform does not promote self medication, he said the cost of using the service and the core medical language are some of the strategies that would deter patients from using it for self medication.

“No patient will pay that kind of amount just to look up the information of a drug he bought over the counter. Moreover, the medical language is not easily comprehensible for people without medical affiliations,” he said.

He however told HumanIPO his company is working on some products meant for patients that would be launched before the end of the year. He added they are promoting MedEnhanz by seeking partnerships with stakeholders.

“This is needed to bring the tool to the hands of many doctors at all levels,” he said.