Pharmacy leaders have called for prescription charges to be scrapped in England.

According to a poll, 79% of people think it's "unfair" they have to pay, while those in other UK nations do not.

One in 10 people also say they have gone without medicine due to the £9.90 prescription cost.

The survey of 1,781 adults was carried out for the National Pharmacy Association (NPA), which represents about 6,000 independent pharmacies across the UK.

It called prescription fees a "cruel tax on illness" and wants the chancellor to scrap them in next week's budget to help ease cost-of-living pressures.

Prescription charges ended in Scotland in 2011, in Northern Ireland in 2010, and in Wales in 2007.

Some prescriptions in England remain free, including contraception and medicine for hospital inpatients.

Under-16s and over-60s also do not pay, plus 16-18-year-olds in full-time education, some people on benefits, and people with medical conditions including cancer, diabetes and epilepsy.

"It is a national scandal and deeply unfair that anyone could consider stopping vital medicines because of cost," said NPA chairman Olivier Picard.

"This cruel tax on illness, where some patients are exempt but others are forced to pay simply because they have the wrong kind of illness, undermines the founding principles of the NHS."

A number of charities are also backing the campaign.

Marianne Radcliffe, chief executive of Chron's and Colitis UK, said people with ongoing health problems "should not be forced to choose between their health and their finances simply because they need medication every day".

Asthma and Lung UK said patients with respiratory conditions were "essentially paying for their right to breathe", as they are not on the NHS exempt list.

"Being able to take medication shouldn't come down to whether or not you can afford it," said chief executive Sarah Sleet.

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Some 11.6 million people paid for prescriptions last year, according to the NPA.

However, about 3.3 million used a prescription prepayment certificate (PPC), which can work out cheaper than paying for individual items.

It covers all of a person's prescriptions and costs £32.05 for three months or £114.50 for a year.

People may also be able to get free prescriptions through the NHS low income scheme.

The Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said: "Almost nine in 10 NHS prescriptions in England are currently supplied free of charge.

"For those people who do pay for their prescriptions, we have frozen prescription charges for the last two years, keeping costs as low as possible for millions of patients.

"Every penny raised from prescription charges goes back into our NHS, to support the front-line care from which we all benefit."

(c) Sky News 2026: Scrap 'unfair' prescription charges in England, say pharmacies