President signs law on free medicines for children, over-65s

Andrzej Duda, Poland's president, signed a bill into law on Tuesday extending the group of people entitled to free medicines to include children under 18 and senior citizens over the age of 65.

Duda signed the law, an amendment to an existing law on state-financed healthcare and the refunding of drugs, in the presence of the prime minister, Mateusz Morawiecki.

Until the amendment was signed, only people over the age of 75 were entitled to free medications listed by the Health Ministry.

The ruling party leader, Deputy Prime Minister Jaroslaw Kaczynski, announced the move in mid-May at the Law and Justice party's programme convention.