Community Medicine Bank
A managed stock of essential medicines that keeps chronic patients supplied between camps, so a diagnosis does not quietly become an untreated condition.
Impact so far
14,500+
Prescriptions filled
1,900
Chronic patients supported
11
Community dispensing points
What it includes
- Three months of medication for hypertension, diabetes and asthma patients
- Verified stock with batch and expiry tracking at every dispensing point
- Community volunteers trained to dispense against a written prescription only
- Automatic reminder before a patient's supply runs out
- Quarterly reconciliation published alongside the annual report
A prescription is worth nothing if the patient cannot afford to fill it. For chronic conditions the arithmetic is brutal: a diagnosis at a free camp creates a monthly cost the family was not carrying before, and adherence collapses within weeks.
What the medicine bank does
We maintain a managed stock of essential medicines at eleven community dispensing points, each run by a trained local volunteer. Patients registered during a camp collect their supply there rather than travelling to a city pharmacy.
Medication is dispensed against a written prescription only, and every transaction is logged against the patient’s registration number.
Keeping stock honest
Every dispensing point tracks batch numbers and expiry dates. Stock is reconciled quarterly and the results are published alongside our annual report. This is not incidental — a medicine bank without visible controls is an invitation to leakage, and the programme’s credibility in the community is the only reason it functions.
Reminders
Registered patients receive a message before their supply runs out. It is a small mechanism, but the difference in adherence between patients who are reminded and those who are not is the single largest effect we have measured across any of our programmes.