Self-medication: fewer doctor’s appointments and A&E visits, saving the NHS 3 billion

Around 91 million visits to GPs or paediatricians avoided, over 1 million fewer visits to A&E, as well as time and benefits returned to the public and the health system: the appropriate use of over-the-counter medicines, which account for 13.5 per cent of the volume of medicines dispensed locally, would enable the National Health Service to save and reinvest almost 3 billion euros.

This is the estimate set out in a study commissioned by Assosalute, the National Association for Self-Medication Products, part of Federchimica, and carried out by the TEHA Group (The European House – Ambrosetti). For the first time, the report provides a comprehensive analysis of the industrial, economic, social and health-related value of the over-the-counter (or self-medication) medicines sector in Italia – medicines that do not require a prescription to be purchased from a pharmacy but which are, nevertheless, subject to authorisation and supervision by the Italian Medicines Agency.

“In Italia, self-medication is a widespread and well-established practice,” noted the president of Assosalute, Michele Albero : “In 2025, it generated 3.2 billion in retail sales, with over 290 million packs dispensed. Behind these figures lies a healthcare model based on people’s ability to recognise and manage minor ailments, with the support of pharmacists and doctors, and within the limits where self-care is appropriate.”

Alongside its health benefits, the sector boasts a robust industrial supply chain and internationally recognised expertise. The companies affiliated with Assosalute, which account for over 70 per cent of the market, achieved a production value of 1.27 billion in 2025 and an added value per employee that is almost double that of the Italian manufacturing sector, with high-quality employment where over half of the workforce hold a university degree and 44 per cent are women. “Every euro generated by our companies,” emphasises Albero, “triggers a further three in the rest of the economy.”

The Teha report, however, highlights a gap that cannot be ignored: per capita spending on over-the-counter medicines is significantly lower than the average for the larger European countries. “In Italia,” emphasises Daniela Bianco, a partner at The European House Ambrosetti and head of Health & Life Sciences at Thea Group, points out – “less than one in five citizens say they have self-medicated in the last two weeks, compared with 70 per cent in Finland, 42 per cent in the Netherlands and 37 per cent in Germany”. Per capita spending, at 54.3 euros per year, is also the lowest among the Big-4 countries (Germany, France, Italia and Spain) and the United Kingdom, and even the growth recorded between 2020 and 2025 has not been sufficient to bridge the gap. The limited range of products on offer is also a factor, as this is the variable that has the greatest impact on the development of the market: over the last 10 years, Italia has recorded only 6 ‘switches’ – that is, the reclassification of medicines to over-the-counter status – compared with 26 in the United Kingdom, 15 in Germany and 8 in Spain. “And yet,” continues Bianco, “the contribution of self-medication medicines translates into a gain of 4.8 months of healthy life: this may seem like a small figure, but it is exactly the same amount we have lost in terms of life expectancy due to the Covid-19 pandemic.”