EU Pharmaceutical Law:
Unlocking the benefits of online access to prescription medicines
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.
Introduction
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:
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 year. 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:
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.
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 Directive, 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.
Join us to Unlock the Benefits for the EU Citizen!
Our Online order and Home delivery of Medicines Coalition (OnHOME) Manifesto aims to promote a collective and comprehensive action plan to enable patients to get their prescription medicines delivered at home via pharmacies, regardless of their nationality or place of residence.
The coalition firmly believes that this initiative goes hand in hand with the EU’s digital transformation efforts in the healthcare arena.
The objective is to continually expand the coalition partners, and we invite you to consider joining the OnHOME coalition because together, we are stronger.
Contact Mike Isles for more informationCurrent Coalition Partners
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Unlocking the Benefits
Unlocking the benefits of online access to prescription medicines across the EU
We compare the pharmacy experiences of European Union citizens in countries where online access o prescription medicines is permitted (Sweden and Germany) to those in countries where it is permitted (France, Italy and Spain).
We gather evidence through a consumer survey (5,000 participants) supported by 25 in-depth interviews with chronic patients, 25 with pharmacy owners, and 3 with experts affiliated with patients' organisations.