ABSTRACT

The main purpose of this study is to design an online mobile application to reach the nearest pharmacy in the fastest and most accurate way. It is vital in emergency situations. This application provides pharmacist locations, address, and contact numbers to users. In addition, it provides daily lists of pharmacies on duty. Thus, this study and the developed software will give us clues to contribute online medicine approach. Furthermore, this work is unique in this field; no such comprehensive study has been done before on online medicine tracking system.

The software was created using the android operating system on Massachusetts Institute of Technology App Inventor platform. Database was created with program codes, and necessary information was stored in the database. Finally, database is integrated into the interface.

The PHARNC was developed to provide a quick access to pharmacies. Nicosia, Famagusta, Kyrenia, Morpheus, and Iskele/Karpasia were selected as pilot regions. These districts vary in population and number of pharmacies. Nicosia is the district with the highest density in population and number pharmacies. As a result, there are 10 pharmacies per 10,000 people in Nicosia, while there is one pharmacy per 10,000 people in the Iskele/Karpasia.

This study showed that Nicosia has now reached the saturation point in the number of pharmacies. The necessary measures should be taken and a solution should be found for the accumulation of pharmacy in Nicosia because the number of pharmacies is higher than the population needs. Whereas, this situation is negative in Famagusta, Kyrenia, and Morpheus; there is a great risk for these districts in the upcoming years.