File photo: CGTN

BEIJING, Sept. 9 (Xinhua) -- An intelligent robot has been developed to assist professional pharmacists to provide pharmacy and medication services and ensure safe drug use for the public.

The robot is functionally equivalent to a professional pharmacist with 10 years of working experience in helping patients take medicine effectively and safely, according to its developer, a Beijing-based technology firm.

Drawing on artificial intelligence technologies, the robot is able to provide symptom analysis, safe drug use checks, dosage regimens and other services, said the developer.

It is aimed at making up for the insufficiency of professional pharmacists in China, where new retail pharmacies must be staffed with professional pharmacists and the legal persons or managers of all retail drug stores must hold professional pharmacist qualifications.

According to the professional pharmacist certification center under the National Medical Products Administration, by the end of May, the country had 439,000 professional pharmacists registered at retail pharmaceutical companies and nearly 500,000 drug stores.

With the initiative of Internet plus medical care, China has employed various advanced technologies to improve its medical services such as mobile apps for hospital registration and facial recognition devices for identity authentication in hospitals.