Home > Western Europe > United Kingdom

Summary: United Kingdom

As the National Health Service (NHS) reimburses the majority of drugs sold in the UK, the UK has developed an unusual system of controlling pharmaceutical companies' profits through a "voluntary" agreement between the Government and the Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry (ABPI). Although some patients pay a small co-payment, the health service is free at the point of contact and most patients are protected from the true cost of medicines. However, a series of cost-control measures on the demand side, including the use of government bodies (The National Institute of Clinical Excellence, NICE; and the Health Technology Board for Scotland, HTBS), to assess clinical-effectiveness and cost-effectiveness, makes the UK one of the most controlled environments in Europe.