A medicine vending machine was set up at a passenger transportation center in Dinghai district, Zhoushan, East China's Zhejiang province, recently.

The vending machine, the first in the city, stores common over-the-counter drugs, including cold medicine and travel sickness remedies. There are also various kinds of medical equipment, for example, electronic clinical thermometers.

It takes no more than 5 minutes to buy travel sickness tablets and Band-Aids from the machine, said one user.

According to local authorities, the medicine vending machine was set up at the transportation center to satisfy the demand of passengers and local residents.

The machine has some drugs that can be bought only under the guidance of a licensed pharmacist. If one needs to purchase such drugs, he or she can send an inquiry to a pharmacist online with the help of the machine. However, the drugs cannot be purchased if there is no pharmacist available online.

The machine is connected to a management system, allowing it to update complete, accurate and traceable records in real time.

To ensure the safety of the drugs, the group will check the machine's inventory every day and conduct weekly inspections on the quality of drugs. The Dinghai branch of the Zhoushan municipal market supervision administration will check the machine and drugs quarterly, said officials.

A girl purchases medicine from a vending machine. [Photo/VCG]