Increasing accessibility to over-the-counter medications at military bases and airports without pharmacies nearby

The government is pursuing a plan to make over-the-counter medicines more easily available at military bases and island areas.

The Ministry of Health and Welfare announced on the 12th that it is giving legislative and administrative notice of amendments to the ‘Enforcement Decree of the Pharmaceutical Affairs Act’ and the ‘Designation on the Handling of Medicines in Special Places’ notice to increase accessibility to medicines in areas where it is difficult to purchase medicines, such as military bases and local small and medium-sized airports.

Special locations specified in the notice include trains, airplanes, ships, and drug-free villages (areas without pharmacies among islands, remote areas, or border areas), where non-pharmacists can handle and sell certain medicines on behalf of others under the management and supervision of a nearby pharmacy establishment.

First of all, the amendment includes provisions allowing direct dispensing by doctors to military personnel at military medical facilities.

The current Enforcement Decree of the Pharmaceutical Affairs Act stipulates that military personnel can receive medicine immediately after receiving treatment at a military medical facility (direct dispensing by a doctor is permitted), but this will also be allowed for military personnel in the future.

It also includes provisions that allow military personnel with health and medical licenses (doctors, pharmacists, nurses, and emergency medical technicians), in addition to medical soldiers, to handle medicines on behalf of military units in remote areas.

The amendment also allows for the handling of over-the-counter medications even in military units that do not have military doctors or nearby pharmacies.

Considering the geographical characteristics of military units and the recent increase in the number of units without military doctors, the Ministry of Health and Welfare explained that it is pushing for units designated by military commanders to be able to handle safe over-the-counter medicines, such as antipyretic analgesics, on behalf of units without pharmacies or safe over-the-counter medicine stores within 3 km among units where military doctors are not deployed.

In addition, the amendment stipulates that safety medicines can be handled on behalf of airport passenger terminals, such as local small and medium-sized airports that do not have pharmacies or safety medicine stores, and that anti-emetics (motion sickness medicine) can also be handled in special places on islands and remote areas that previously only handled fire extinguishers and antipyretic analgesics.

The Ministry of Health and Welfare plans to finalize the amendments after collecting public opinions.

Opinions regarding the Enforcement Decree of the Pharmaceutical Affairs Act must be submitted by December 22nd, and opinions regarding the designation notice regarding the handling of medicines in special locations must be submitted to the Pharmaceutical Policy Division of the Ministry of Health and Welfare or the Public Participation Legislation Center by December 2nd.