The Pharmacy of Your Choice scheme has been certified as reaching international standards.
The certificate issued by the International Organisation for Standardisation showed that the scheme, through which patients can collect free medicine from their village pharmacy, offered products and service that were safe, reliable and of good quality, explained Consumer Affairs Minister Jason Azzopardi.
About 370 companies in Malta had this quality stamp, he said.
Health Minister Joe Cassar added that the scheme, which started as a pilot project in December 2007, was now spread over 70 localities and involved 208 pharmacies from where about 92,500 people collected their free medicines.
Dr Cassar announced new reductions in the cost of medicines, noting that, over the past five years, the Government had reached agreements with several importers to slash the prices of 287 medicines.