The association was founded in 1881 to protect the interests of pharmacies, and to deal with the authorities and other industries on behalf of the members.
Today, the Norwegian Pharmacy Association focus on the professional development of pharmacies, the legislative and economic framework set by the Government, and the development of technology and e-health services.
All Norwegian pharmacies are members of the association.
► Watch a film about Norwegian pharmacies and the Norwegian Pharmacy Association (YouTube, 2 minutes)
28th of April 2022
Updated facts and figures from the Norwegian pharmacy sector
The document is updated with key figures from 2021. This includes an explanation of pharmacy ownership in Norway, pharmaceutical financing, total turnover, an overview of the 10 most used pharmaceuticals in 2021 and a brief introduction to the health-care services Norwegian pharmacies provide.
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10th of January 2022
150 pharmacies are now offering vaccines against covid-19
33 municipalities have signed agreements with pharmacies for vaccination against covid-19. There are both smaller municipalities such as Vågan and Risør, and larger municipalities such as Bergen and Bærum.
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2nd of September 2020
Norwegian pharmacists can prescribe influenza vaccines
The Norwegian ministry of health give pharmacists the right to prescribe influenza vaccines. This fall pharmacies can both prescribe and administer the vaccination.
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14th May 2020:
Expecting more flu vaccination in Norwegian pharmacies
The Norwegian authorities will soon open for pharmacists to dispense flu vaccines on their own without a doctor's prescription. The necessary regulatory measures are taken these days. Conditions will then also be in place to mobilize thousands of pharmacy employees once the Covid-19 vaccine arrives.
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The Board
The board consists of representatives from independent pharmacies, hospital pharmacies and the pharmacy chains Apotek 1, Boots apotek and Vitus apotek.
Management Team
Per T. Lund, Chief executive officer, per.lund@apotek.no
Hanne Andresen, Director of Pharmaceutical Affairs, hanne.andresen@apotek.no
Thor-Arne Englund, Director of Economic Policy & Government Relations, thor-arne.englund@apotek.no
Anne-Lise Härter, Director of eHealth, anne-lise.harter@apotek.no
Jostein Soldal, Head of Communications, jostein.soldal@apotek.no
Administration
The Norwegian Pharmacy Association including the organization AS Apotekernes Hus has 38 employees. The association’s employees are skilled in pharmacy, economy, IT and PR.
Purpose
The Norwegian Pharmacy Association’s main aims are to ensure that pharmacies have:
- as good and predictable a regulatory framework as possible
- as strong a position and framework as possible for competing with other sales channels within the product and service areas in which the pharmacies have, or wish to have, a commercial interest
- best possible political awareness and acceptance.
As a secondary purpose, the Norwegian Pharmacy Association performs tasks and carries out functions on behalf of the trade as and when the organisation’s members consider this appropriate. Such tasks and functions cannot be within areas defined by the members as competitive arenas.
As part of its secondary purpose, the Norwegian Pharmacy Association currently runs Farmalogg AS (the Norwegian Article Number Registry - VareWeb), and Serviceproduksjon AS.
