Prescriptions abroad: what travellers need to know

Can you use your prescription in another country?

It depends on where it was written and where you are. Within the EU, a prescription delivered by a doctor in one EU country is valid in all other EU countries. The pharmacist still applies the dispensing rules of the country you are in, and the medicine may not be authorised or available there, or may be sold under a different name, which is why the prescription should give the medicine's common name rather than its brand. Outside the EU there is no equivalent general rule, so whether a pharmacy will accept a prescription from another country depends on that country and is worth checking before you travel.

What your prescription is genuinely useful for is proving what you take and why. That matters at a border, at a pharmacy counter, and in a consultation with a local doctor who has no access to your records.

What should you do before you travel?

1. 1Check whether your medicine contains a controlled drugUK government guidance is that your doctor or pharmacist can tell you, and that you can also check the drugs listed on the packaging against the controlled drugs list. This is the single check most worth doing, because it is the one with legal consequences.
2. 2Check the destination country's rulesUK government guidance is to check the rules for the country you are going to with the embassy before you travel. NaTHNaC adds that these rules can be difficult to obtain for some countries, so allow time rather than doing it the night before.
3. 3Get a letter from your prescriber, using generic namesNaTHNaC advises obtaining a copy of all prescriptions to carry during travel, and a letter from the prescriber detailing the medicines with the generic names. It notes this helps at border control checks and if you need to replace medicines.
4. 4Take enough, and keep it labelledIf your medicine contains a controlled drug, NaTHNaC notes that larger quantities, usually three months' supply or more, may need an export licence, and UK Home Office guidance notes that many controlled drugs are not normally prescribed in quantities greater than one month's supply. NaTHNaC advises that medication should be correctly labelled and in its original pharmacy packaging, carried in hand luggage, with extra packed in the hold in case hand luggage is lost or stolen.
5. 5Photograph everythingPrescription, prescriber letter, and the label on each box. If the bag goes missing, the photos are what let a pharmacist or a doctor work out what you need.

Which medicines need extra paperwork?

Controlled drugs are the category to watch. NaTHNaC lists examples of medicines that may require an export licence before transporting set quantities, usually three months' supply or more, including diamorphine, diazepam, codeine, fentanyl, methadone, morphine, pethidine, Ritalin and temazepam. Licence applications must be submitted at least ten days before travel. For shorter trips, it advises a letter from the GP or prescriber detailing the medicines.

UK government guidance adds that you must carry medicine containing a controlled drug with you in your hand luggage when entering or leaving the UK.

The rules above are UK-specific. If you are travelling from elsewhere, the shape of the advice holds but the thresholds and the paperwork will not. Check your own national guidance and the destination's embassy.

What if you lose your medication mid-trip?

First, work out how urgent it actually is. Missing a few days of something you take for a long-term condition is a very different problem from missing a dose of something you take occasionally, and the answer depends on which medicine it is. That is worth asking a doctor rather than deciding yourself.

Then, in rough order of usefulness:

1. Find the photo or copy of your prescription and prescriber letter. Everything below is easier with the generic name, strength and dose in front of you.
2. Speak to a local pharmacist. Depending on the medicine and the country, some things are available without a prescription that would need one at home, and the reverse is also true.
3. Speak to a doctor licensed where you are. They can assess whether a local prescription is appropriate, and what the local equivalent of your medicine is called.
4. If it is a controlled drug, expect it to be harder, and expect to need documentation. This is the category where planning ahead pays and improvising does not.

Why is your medicine called something else here?

Because the brand name is a commercial name, and it changes between markets. The same active ingredient can be sold under several different brands in different countries, which is exactly how travellers end up staring at a shelf convinced their medicine does not exist.

The generic name is the one that does not change. This is why NaTHNaC advises asking your prescriber to write the letter using generic names: a pharmacist who has never heard of your brand can still identify the ingredient, the strength and the form.

Is it safe to buy medicine at a local pharmacy?

In most places, from an established pharmacy, yes. The caution is about supply chains rather than pharmacists. NaTHNaC advises that wherever possible travellers should avoid the risk of purchasing falsified medication by obtaining all the medication they need before travel, and cites a WHO estimate that one in ten medicines in low- and middle-income countries failed quality tests. It notes falsified medicines can contain ingredients that do not work or are toxic, resulting in treatment failure or serious harm.

In practice: bring what you need, buy from a proper pharmacy rather than a market stall or a website if you must buy locally, and be more careful the more the medicine matters.

What a pharmacist is allowed to do varies too. In France, since June 2024 a trained pharmacist can dispense antibiotics without a prescription after a positive rapid test at the counter, but only for two conditions: a sore throat in people aged 10 and over, and simple cystitis in women aged 16 to 65. The pharmacist first checks for exclusions, and Service-Public gives not speaking French well enough to give your medical details as an example. If you have urinary symptoms, our guide to France's pharmacist rules for urinary infections explains who the route is open to.

Can a doctor on a video call prescribe for you?

Sometimes, and the honest answer has conditions attached that are not marketing hedges. Whether a prescription can be issued, and then actually dispensed by a pharmacy near you, depends on the medicine, the country you are in, and whether it is clinically appropriate for your situation. A doctor licensed to treat you where you are can tell you which of those apply to you.

For Pomodoc specifically: Prescriptions when local rules allow. Your doctor may issue one when it’s clinically appropriate and local rules permit.

Controlled drugs are a separate question again, and generally the hardest category to resolve remotely anywhere. If you rely on one, the planning in this article is not optional.

If what you actually need is an assessment rather than a repeat, the five ways to see a doctor abroad compares your options. And if the reason you are reading this is a stomach bug, what to do in the first day of food poisoning is the more useful page.