Estonia, EU – Baltic States, Markets and Companies

A spokesperson, Tiia Lundqvist, said that about 500 digital prescriptions issued in Finland are used in Estonia to buy medicines every month. In July, the number jumped to 860.

The numbers are small compared with the total number of prescriptions issued in Finland. About two million prescriptions in total were written by medics in Finland during July, Lundqvist said.

Buying medicines at pharmacies in Estonia with a digital prescription issued in Finland became possible in January. Finns, however, cannot buy medicines affecting the central nervous system and medicines containing narcotic substances in other countries.

Teemupekka Virtanen, expert at the Finnish Ministry of Social Affairs and Health, described the number of Finnish digital prescriptions used in Estonia as surprisingly big, not small. 

Virtanen said we are talking about an EU-wide project which is only in the initial stages now. Finland and Estonia were the first EU member states to make the arrangement work. By now also Croatia, a holiday destination popular with Finnish tourists, has joined the project. 

"The true benefits will be seen when all countries have come on board. These are the first steps under this project," Virtanen said.

The arrangement between Estonia and Finland is a one-way road at this point, with the possibility for Estonians to buy medicines in Finnish pharmacies with a digital prescription issued in Estonia currently in the preparation stages.

"The original idea was to have it done by the end of this year. I cannot say anything for certain as long as it hasn't been done,"  Lundqvist told STT.

Virtanen said that where according to the information available from the websites of Estonian pharmacies medicines as a rule are cheaper in Estonia than in Finland, the difference is big only in the case of a few medicines. 

"It isn't worthwhile to travel to Estonia to buy only medicines," he said.

The official added that central to the introduction of the cross-border arrangement was not the price, but enabling travelers and those working abroad to get their medicines hassle-free.