Britain to debate availability of HRT and the pill over the counter

The organisation in the UK which regulates drugs and treatments, the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) is to hold a seminar in London as part of a campaign to improve women's health.

One plan proposed is that the pill and hormone replacement therapy could be made available over the counter without a prescription.

The emergency contraceptive pill can already be bought from the chemist but any other changes regarding prescription-only drugs would still need pharmaceutical companies to ask for a change in their licences.

The proposed seminar for doctors, nurses, pharmacists, midwives and other interested groups, will consider recommending that the pill and HRT are more easily available, along with tests for sexually transmitted diseases and drugs used to treat heavy periods.

The MHRA say they are committed to making medicines more widely available where it is safe to do so but it would still remain up to the pharmaceutical companies to ask for a change in their licences and nothing can change without the industry agreeing.

The move is in keeping with the current Government policy to offer patients more choice in how they access health care and in allowing pharmacists to play a bigger role.

Some doctors have expressed reservations as only General Practitioners (GP's) know which other drugs patients may be taking or if they have conditions that would make the use of hormone drugs unsafe.

The Royal College of General Practitioners says patients records would need to be shared between pharmacists and GPs so both knew what drugs a patient was on.

The Royal Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain, says pharmacists are experts in medicines and can offer professional advice to ensure that the over-the-counter medicines selected are appropriate for the individual.