Online access to prescription medicines has been a safe and secure reality for many years for eight EU Member States (and three EEA countries). Unfortunately, this means that 19 Member States currently deny their citizens this benefit and thus prevent patients from having freedom to choose how to obtain their medication.

The revision of the General Pharmaceutical Legislation (GPL) provides a once in a generation opportunity to address this patient inequality and to empower pharmacies across all Member States by offering additional patient services – online dispensing service and home delivery.

A major study published by Copenhagen Economics in January 2024 clearly revealed the significant benefits of digital access to prescription medicines, particularly those who are chronically ill and living in rural areas. These patients and their carers often face challenges due to the distance to a physical pharmacy, mobility issues or time constraints. Offering the option for prescription medicines to be safely delivered to their homes would significantly enhance their well-being. Additionally, chronic patients believe that digital access to prescription medicines would provide for increased adherence to their treatment since the main factors for non or poor adherence were:

• medicine not in stock in the pharmacy
• forgetting to refill the medicine
• a lack of time to obtain or refill prescriptions

This is significant as research shows that non-adherence and poor adherence to medication regimens result in avoidable costs amounting to EUR 125bn annually across Europe and contribute to approximately 200,000 premature deaths each year1. Additionally, providing patients with a choice on ways to access would further support preparedness for health threats. The COVID-19 pandemic showed there was an imperative need for patients to receive their medicines directly at home.

Digital connectivity between pharmacies and patients also has the potential to offer high quality and convenient pharmacy care services such as real time pharmacy consultations, potentially saving time for other healthcare professionals, and thus promoting efficiencies in health systems. This practice is especially well established in Sweden where it has been used for two decades plus now.

The EU has already passed legislation that ensures safe and secures online dispensing of medicines. This was achieved when, in 2011, the Falsified Medicines Directive was introduced since it:

• introduces safety features, allowing for the authentication of each prescription medicine pack – whether online or offline – to prevent counterfeits reaching patients’ hands.
• obliges all pharmacies offering medicines via the Internet to display the EU Common Logo, with the pharmacy linked to a national register, enabling patients to identify the legitimate pharmacy with a simple click.

During recent years, many EU countries have also adopted electronic prescription systems, providing the means to authenticate prescriptions digitally. In addition, upcoming EU regulations, such as the European Health Data Space (EHDS) and the EU Digital Identity (eID) wallet, will establish the necessary interoperability standards and infrastructure to enable patients to authenticate services digitally and safely access their health data.

Therefore, the technology is already in place to ensure the safe online dispensing of prescription medicines. However, in 19 Member States, prohibitions on the online dispensing of prescription medicines persist and prevent the full potential of the already implemented technology to benefit patients from improved access to healthcare via the rapidly developing digital world. The sooner the public becomes informed about reliable sources for obtaining their medicines safely online, the sooner the battle against falsified medicines will be won.
It is now very clear that the time is right to advocate for a change in the 20-year-old legislation and allow all patients across the EU to have equal access to prescription medicines wherever they are.

Call to Action

The Online order and Home delivery of Medicines Coalition (OnHOME) is a group of patient organisations and other active stakeholders in the healthcare community determined to advocate for all Member States to allow their patients the choice to obtain their prescription medicines online and get them delivered at home by registered pharmacies.

We therefore call on EU policymakers to improve the availability of medicines online by encouraging Member States to take the necessary steps to allow online access to prescription medicines, leveraging the current revision of the General Pharmaceutical Legislation.

Specifically, this could be achieved by amending Article 172 of the Commission proposal for the Pharmaceutical Directive2, which will regulate the sale of medicinal products at a distance to the public. This would remove outright prohibitions that are not evidence based and do not respond to the principles of necessity and proportionality. Such an amendment will encourage Member States to permit online availability of prescription medicines from authorised pharmacies, in accordance with Single Market rules for the benefit of all European patients and citizens.

Learn more and support the Call to Action here: