ReviewBMJ global health2021
When technology precedes regulation: the challenges and opportunities of e-pharmacy in low-income and middle-income countries.
Review in BMJ global health, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 36 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
36 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Measuring health-related quality of life in Africa: a systematic review of validated disease-specific and generic measurement tools.Frontiers in psychology · 2025Pooled it
- Online delivery of oral HIV pre- and post-exposure prophylaxis: findings from the ePrEP Kenya pilot.Journal of the International AIDS Society · 2025Trial
- Stakeholder Perceptions on Innovative Private Pharmacy Distribution Channels and Implications for Medicine Quality in Zambia: A Qualitative Study.Global health, science and practice · 2026Article
- Measuring Safety Risks in Online Drug Sales: Empirical Study Based on Complex Network Theory.JMIR infodemiology · 2026Article
- Community pharmacists' perspectives on E-pharmacy: an imminent threat or an opportunity in disguise?Frontiers in medicine · 2026Article
- Variation and gaps in online pharmacy regulation: a comparative review of regulations across 12 countries.BMJ public health · 2026Article
- Navigating Global Cosmetics Compliance: A Comparative Analysis of India's Cosmetics Rules 2020 with International Standards.Current drug research reviews · 2026Review
- Readiness for Provision of Online Pharmaceutical Services by Retail Pharmacies in Kampala Metropolitan Area, Uganda.Integrated pharmacy research & practice · 2026Article
- Online Pharmacy Adoption and Consumer Perception: A Systematic Review of Existing Literature.Cureus · 2025Review
- Digital Divide in Awareness, Want, and Adoption Across Diverse eHealth Services: Cross-Sectional Survey of Inpatients in Jinan, China.Journal of medical Internet research · 2025Article
- Building an Ethical Framework for European Pharmacists in e-Pharmacies.Journal of medical Internet research · 2025Article
- Regulation of artificial intelligence in Uganda's healthcare: exploring an appropriate regulatory approach and framework to deliver universal health coverage.International journal for equity in health · 2025Article
- Exploration of Challenges and Opportunities for Good Pharmacy Practices in Bangladesh: A Qualitative Study.Pharmacy (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- Patterns and predictors of self-medication behavior of weight loss medications: a cross-sectional analysis of social media influence and role of pharmacist intervention.Frontiers in pharmacology · 2025Article
- A qualitative exploration of consumers' views and experiences toward online pharmacies: Narrative from a developing country.PloS one · 2025Article
- The good, the bad, and the ugly: Compliance of e-pharmacies serving India and Kenya with regulatory requirements and best practices.PLOS global public health · 2025Article
- A cross-sectional study assessing customers' perception, satisfaction, and attitude toward e-pharmacy services in Saudi Arabia.BMC health services research · 2024Article
- Approaches, enablers and barriers to govern the private sector in health in low- and middle-income countries: a scoping review.BMJ global health · 2024Article
- Vietnamese people's behavior and future intention to purchase medicines and functional foods on the internet: a cross-sectional study.Scientific reports · 2024Article
- Unravelling the shift: exploring consumers' adoption or resistance of E-Pharmacy through behavioural reasoning theory.BMC public health · 2024Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
18 authors.
Funding
Abstract
The recent growth of medicine sales online represents a major disruption to pharmacy markets, with COVID-19 encouraging this trend further. While e-pharmacy businesses were initially the preserve of high-income countries, in the past decade they have been growing rapidly in low-income and middle-income countries (LMICs). Public health concerns associated with e-pharmacy include the sale of prescription-only medicines without a prescription and the sale of substandard and falsified medicines. There are also non-health-related risks such as consumer fraud and lack of data privacy. However, e-pharmacy may also have the potential to improve access to medicines. Drawing on existing literature and a set of key informant interviews in Kenya, Nigeria and India, we examine the e-pharmacy regulatory systems in LMICs. None of the study countries had yet enacted a regulatory framework specific to e-pharmacy. Key regulatory challenges included the lack of consensus on regulatory models, lack of regulatory capacity, regulating sales across borders and risks of over-regulation. However, e-pharmacy also presents opportunities to enhance medicine regulation-through consolidation in the sector, and the traceability and transparency that online records offer. The regulatory process needs to be adapted to keep pace with this dynamic landscape and exploit these possibilities. This will require exploration of a range of innovative regulatory options, collaboration with larger, more compliant businesses, and engagement with global regulatory bodies. A key first step must be ensuring that national regulators are equipped with the necessary awareness and technical expertise to actively oversee this e-pharmacy activity.
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What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.