PRESCRIPTION fees for all patients in Scotland will be scrapped within four years, says Deputy First Minister Nicola Sturgeon.

PRESCRIPTION fees for all patients in Scotland will be scrapped within four years, says Deputy First Minister Nicola Sturgeon.

Ms Sturgeon, who is also Scottish Health Secretary, plans to end the tax on ill-health' by the next Holyrood election in spring 2011.

Around half of all people in Scotland get prescriptions free, including pensioners, children, women who are pregnant, and people on benefits.

In 2004, only 8% of prescriptions were paid for.

Abolishing charges is expected to cost about £70million per year.

The SNP had previously promised to end prescription charges by the end of 2012, but decided to bring forward the move after the Welsh Assembly abolished them this year.

Ms Sturgeon said: "I recently attended a conference of the Parkinson's Disease Society and heard that many people with life-limiting conditions go without their prescribed medications because they can't afford the prescription charges.

"This is not an acceptable situation the new government will tolerate. I can confirm prescription charges will be abolished in the lifetime of this parliament."

The move builds on a plan to abolish charges for those suffering chronic illnesses, such as asthma, arthritis, Hepatitis C, cancer and multiple sclerosis, by next year.

Prescription charges went up 20p in April to £6.85 and scrapping them will cost £50m. Increased demand after medicines become free is expected to cost a further£20m.

However, the move is likely to cause a row as patients in England will continue to pay charges.

Scotland has already benefitted from policies such as free personal care for the elderly and free eye and dental checks, neither of which are available in England.

Patients in Scotland have also been given access to some drugs on the NHS ahead of sufferers in England and Wales over the past two years.

This year a row erupted after the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence refused to fund lung cancer drug Tarceva. It was not deemed an effective use of resources.

But the Scottish Medicines Consortium gave the go-ahead to the tablets, whch cost £1700 a month.

Other drugs rejected down south but available in Scotland include Alimta, Gliadel and Velcade to fight cancer.