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" The Scottish Parliament is considering regulations that would see prescription charges north of the border fall from \u00A34 to \u00A33 later this year. If approved, the move would take place in April, ahead of the total abolition of prescription charges in 2011. At the same time, patients purchasing a four-month pre-payment certificate (PPC) will pay \u00A310 rather than \u00A313, while the cost of a 12-month pre-payment certificate will fall from \u00A338 to \u00A328. &amp;#039;This further planned reduction in prescription charges, taking us closer to full abolition, is great news for patients, remarked Shona Robison, Scotland&amp;#039;s public health minister. &amp;#039;Not only will it bring us nearer to removing a &amp;#039;tax on ill health&amp;#039; that people needing medicines shouldn&amp;#039;t have to face, it&amp;#039;s in line with the founding principle of the NHS that it should be free at the point of delivery.&amp;#039; Scotland aims to abolish prescription charges in 2011, a move that was taken by the Welsh Assembly in April 2007. In contrast, patients in England pay \u00A37.20 for a single prescription and \u00A3104 for a 12-month pre-payment certificate after the cost rose in April 2009. "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.netdoctor.co.uk/healthy-living/news/a19040/msps-to-decide-prescription-charge-cut/>