On the advice of their general practitioner or specialist, no less than one and a half million Dutch people take vitamin D. Since January 1, they are no longer reimbursed if they take it at the pharmacy. “Now we have daily conversations of people saying: If I have to pay for it myself, I’ll buy it elsewhere,” says pharmacist Kadir Akçay.
The pharmacy where Akçay works has now reduced its prices by one euro. “Not just to get it through the pharmacy, but to make sure they get it.”
Otherwise, it is no longer known if people are still taking it. Akçay fears that otherwise the patients will not make it at all for financial reasons. Not even in pharmacies, where prices are often higher, he says, and where patients can’t get a combination with calcium.
Vitamin D was removed from the basic package from 1 January 2023, despite opposition from older people’s unions and patient associations, among others. Minister Ernst Kuipers (Public Health) adopted the opinion of the Care Institute. The supplement would simply be affordable for most people.
For a large dose (75 micrograms) you pay 6.79 for 60 pills. That doesn’t sound like much, but doctors and pharmacists worry there are people who need vitamin D and see the cost as a barrier.
For people who are now on prescription for it, it’s important that they keep taking it. These are, for example, people with brittle bones or people who have already had a broken bone. Cancer patients also require a higher dose and patients with impaired renal function. “The risks then are that people are more likely to break their bones.”
Not superfluous
The Royal Dutch Society for the Promotion of Pharmacy (KNMP) also emphasizes the importance of people continuing to take their prescribed vitamin D. “This is a medicine that was until recently prescribed by the general practitioner, which is not superfluous,” says Dennis Mulkens of the KNMP. “We advise people to stay in the pharmacy, if they don’t, we have no idea anymore.”
Vitamin D, what can I say?
Vitamin D is important for our bones, teeth and stamina. An important source of vitamin D is sunlight. “If you go out between 12pm and 3pm, with your head and hands uncovered, you usually make enough money,” says KWF’s Annabel Schipper.
Sunscreen is important, because even then you produce enough vitamin D in the summer. “You must go out protected.” And the tanning bed? This is not a solution.
The KWF has also advocated for the supplement to remain in the basic package. Not everyone produces enough vitamin D. Young children, the elderly, people with dark skin and pregnant women, for example, are vulnerable groups. “It’s also important for breast cancer patients.”
