Aster Pharmacy, the retail arm of Aster DM Healthcare and a leading pharmacy chain in the UAE, has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with talabat UAE, an online food delivery and q-commerce platform, to offer a prescription fulfillment service. From February 2023, talabat users will be able to upload their medical prescriptions securely and conveniently on the app to be sent to Aster Pharmacy and have them delivered by talabat within 90 minutes. In addition, customers will be able to purchase over-the-counter (OTC) medicines and health and wellness items from Aster Pharmacy with a delivery time of 30 minutes or less.
Dr. Marwan Al Mulla, CEO of Health Regulation at the DHA, congratulated Aster Pharmacy and talabat on this pioneering initiative, which aims to provide the highest quality of specialized and accessible healthcare to the community members in Dubai. He noted that the use of technology to securely upload prescriptions and deliver medicines to patients’ doorstep will add to their convenience and help ensure medication compliance.
Ms. Alisha Moopen, Deputy Managing Director of Aster DM Healthcare, said that this partnership would offer users a quick and convenient way to obtain their prescription medicines, adding that Aster Pharmacy is driven by the purpose of making its health and wellness offerings easily available at the doorsteps of people in the UAE.
Meanwhile, Tatiana Rahal, Managing Director at talabat UAE, commented that this partnership would enable talabat to provide the communities it operates in with accessibility to an even wider range of offerings that cater to their daily needs. She added that the platform is constantly exploring ways to be there for its customers when they need it and where they need it.
To use the service, talabat users upload their medical prescription, Emirates ID, and insurance details through the app. Pharmacists from Aster Pharmacy will then contact them for feedback on insurance approvals, counsel on dosage and consumption instructions, as well as answer any questions on the medicines. The service will be available between 10 am to 10 pm in Dubai during the first phase of the launch.
Confidentiality is ensured as talabat has implemented a tech-backed system that ensures data uploaded as part of the prescription medicine purchases is not visible to or does not reside within the talabat app. As the licensed healthcare provider, Aster Pharmacy’s systems will receive, review, and process the uploaded documents. Customers can contact Aster Pharmacy’s customer care or talabat customer service for inquiries around the clock about their orders.
Aster DM Healthcare is one of the largest integrated healthcare providers in GCC and India, operating 446 pharmacies in India, GCC, and Jordan, including 201 pharmacies in India operated by Alfaone Retail Pharmacies Private Limited under a brand license agreement. During the last financial year, Aster Pharmacy recorded eight million visits across its units.
