Uber Eats, in addition to tasty snacks, will now deliver medicines in South Africa

You already don’t need to leave the house in order to chow down, now you won’t have to leave the house to take care of minor ailments either. Uber Eats has partnered with Medicare pharmacies to bring medication deliveries to people who don’t want to leave home but really, really need headache meds or something for that sprained ankle.

Don’t go thinking you can go all Wolf of Wall Street and order the kinda thing that makes a party a prelude to a stay in jail, though. The service will only be delivering over-the-counter meds, including both Schedule 1 and 2 items. Which is fair enough, it’s a short jump from delivery person to drug dealer, otherwise.

Don’t eat these Uber Eats

A little more admin is needed in order to secure you delivery of painkillers, though. The service will need the buyer’s full name, address and contact phone number — which is the same thing you provide to the pharmacy. And, on receiving your meds, you’ll also need to provide ID to the Uber Eats driver.

Of course, the Medicare partnership means that medication deliveries are a little restricted in SA. The company doesn’t have a presence in every province — just Limpopo, Gauteng, Mpumalanga, and the Western Cape, but the service is initially rolling out in Cape Town and Johannesburg.

Medicare CEO Tim Knapp said “We strongly believe in reinventing pharmacy, and thanks to this partnership with Uber Eats this is made possible. Getting the medication South Africans need, when they need it, without the risk of leaving their home is just the beginning as we continue to explore how best we can bring access, convenience and reliability in our everyday needs.”

Uber Eats’ Shane Austin added, “Seeing how quickly locals adopted an online platform, allowed us the opportunity to significantly scale our offerings to cater for more than just food, moving to just about anything that one might need to live comfortably at home.”

Uber Eats has long been innovative, and they’ve got some big plans for the future. Flying delivery plans and there are other updates on the way, including better recommendations, group ordering (from more than one restaurant) and updated categories. But for now, easier access to meds is good enough for us.