Day-after pill: pilot has started, but pharmacies have not yet joined it

In order for a pharmacy to dispense day-after pills on the basis of a pharmaceutical prescription, it must first join the pilot. Announcements about the call for applications on the websites of regional branches of the National Health Fund appeared on May 2. This means that pharmacies will only be able to apply for this opportunity. The signing of the first contracts for the realization of services under this program will take place in a few days at the earliest, which follows directly from the wording of the NFZ president's order on the matter: "The Fund's department shall verify the application within seven days from the day the application is received."

It is also worth clarifying that the term "dispensing the drug" does not mean making it available free of charge. The remedy is not reimbursed, there is no official price for it, and the cost of purchase is paid entirely by the buyer. The price, depending on the pharmacy, ranges from about PLN 70 to about PLN 170. What is to be contracted by the National Health Service and will be reimbursed is a pharmaceutical service. For each such service, the pharmacy will receive PLN 50.

While pharmacists have no doubts about their competence to carry out the pilot-related advice, their concerns include what the algorithm for dealing with underage patients should look like.

As we wrote, the Ministry of Health failed to convince pharmacists of its interpretation of the stipulations that the "activities" to be performed, under the pilot, by a pharmacist are not a health benefit.

- The Supreme Pharmaceutical Council takes the position that the provision of emergency contraception to a minor patient on the basis of a pharmacist's decision requires the consent of a parent or guardian, says a communiqué published on the website of the pharmacists' self-government on the eve of the regulation's entry into force.