Designing integrated digital-pharmacy platforms for telemedicine and remote medication management in Post-COVID Africa

The COVID-19 pandemic exposed structural weaknesses in healthcare delivery across Africa, particularly in the fragmentation between telemedicine services and pharmaceutical care. While telemedicine adoption expanded rapidly during and after the pandemic, limited integration with pharmacy systems constrained medication access, adherence, and continuity of therapy, especially in rural and peri-urban regions. This study proposes and evaluates an integrated digital-pharmacy platform designed to bridge telemedicine, e-prescription, medication fulfillment, pharmacist counseling, and adherence monitoring within a unified, interoperable architecture tailored to African healthcare realities. Using an applied design science research approach combined with mixed-methods analysis, the study developed a modular, mobile-first digital-pharmacy model informed by stakeholder engagement and system architecture modeling. Empirical evaluation assessed key performance indicators including prescription turnaround time, medication adherence, geographic reach, system usability, and scalability. Findings demonstrate that integration significantly reduces prescription processing delays, improves adherence rates, minimizes therapy interruptions, and extends pharmaceutical services to geographically isolated populations. The platform also redefines the role of pharmacists as continuous digital care providers, strengthening pharmacovigilance and patient safety. The study further identifies critical implementation challenges related to regulatory heterogeneity, infrastructure limitations, and workforce digital literacy, while highlighting policy and practice pathways to address these constraints through regulatory harmonization, public–private partnerships, and integration into national health insurance schemes. Overall, the findings establish integrated digital-pharmacy platforms as a viable, scalable solution for strengthening post-COVID healthcare delivery, equity, and resilience across African health systems. Keywords:  Digital Pharmacy, Telemedicine Integration, Remote Medication Management, Post-COVID Healthcare, Africa.