Price competition for over-the-counter medicines has been possible since spring 2022.
Trade union published its report on the price differences of medicines in Finland and Sweden (HS 9.1.). The result was clear, and it was taken into account in several media: medicines are much cheaper in the western neighbor. Although a pharmacy in Finland cannot influence the price of a prescription drug in any way, and we do not get purchase discounts for over-the-counter drugs like pharmacies in Sweden, we can also carry our cards in order to calculate the prices.
Price competition for over-the-counter medicines has been possible since spring 2022. Understandably, pharmacies that do not give discounts on over-the-counter medicines were selected for the survey of the trade association. However, an alert consumer already finds price differences, and benefits from comparing them. Carrying out a price comparison by visiting brick-and-mortar pharmacies would be tedious, but by browsing online pharmacies, the comparison is easy.
Medicines cannot and should not be marketed based on price in the future, but I want to increase consumers' price awareness of pharmacy products as well. I find it gratifying that actors outside the industry also bring forward their views on the development of pharmaceutical sales.
However, the government program's 30 million euro savings targets for the pharmacy sector cannot be met only by lowering the prices of over-the-counter medicines or opening new distribution channels. Now is the time to bring the regulation of online pharmacy transactions up to date, and the model should be taken from Sweden.
The customer should have access to their own prescription information in the online pharmacy, and payment should be successful before the prescription is delivered. With these small changes, online transactions would be brought into the modern age, while at the same time concentrating the expertise of pharmacists on patient and drug counseling. Both society and the customer would benefit from this in the form of significant cost savings. In addition, customers deserve an up-to-date way of managing their pharmacy affairs digitally.
Kenneth Forssell
pharmacist, Helsinki
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