Belgium's Council of Ministers is moving to involve pharmacies permanently in a project aimed at weaning patients off sleeping pills, the cabinet of Public Health Minister Frank Vandenbroucke announced on Friday.
The decision to make the project permanent and anchor it structurally within pharmacists’ responsibilities, instead of extending it intermittently, was due to be taken on Friday by the Council, Vandenbroucke's cabinet said.
Since 1 February 2023, pharmacists have been able to help patients to gradually reduce their daily consumption of sleeping pills under a pilot project. The pharmacists prepare capsules containing increasingly smaller doses of the medication, tailored to each patient.
The programme can include ten, seven, or five steps and is prescribed by a general practitioner.
The pilot project was initially implemented for one year and has been extended twice, between 1 February 2024 and 31 December 2024, due to its success. It is now being made permanent.
Since the project’s launch, more than 11,000 patients have enrolled.
About one year ago, an evaluation showed that 6,527 people had already started the gradual reduction programme.
Of those patients, 57% began the ten-step programme, 13.9% the seven-step one, and 29.1% the five-step one.
An annual budget of €878,000 has been allocated for the project.
