Visually impaired patients
Braille on the outer packaging
With regard to patient safety, the Austrian Medicines Act §17(5) requires that the name and strength of the human specialty is available on the outer packaging in Braille.
Excluded from this obligation are registered homeopathic medicinal products and medicinal specialities which are used exclusively by doctors or other health care professionals, such as vaccines or infusion solutions.
The application of self-adhesive labels with the name in Braille in pharmacies is not recommended.
Availability of the package leaflet for visually impaired patients
The Austrian Medicines Act (“Arzneimittelgesetz”) regulates under § 16c. (1): "The marketing authorisation holder or the holder of a registration must ensure that the package leaflet are available at the request of patient organisations in formats suitable for blind and visually impaired persons.
For visually impaired patients, the hotline of the Austrian Chamber of Pharmacists with the public short number 1450 for special services is also available.
