Published: 2nd July 2026
As World Cup fever grips the planet, CPS is looking at the match-ups from a pharmacy perspective. It is mostly for fun, but there is a serious point underneath. Every country in this tournament runs its pharmacy network differently, and lining them up side by side is a great way to celebrate what we do well in Scotland, borrow the best ideas from elsewhere, and remind ourselves why the asks in our 2026 Manifesto matters so much.
This week, in the first of the knockout rounds, we focus on Australia vs Egypt.
In the Pharmacy
What each nation does for patients, and what Scotland can take from it.
On the Pitch
Our tongue-in-cheek guess at the football result.
Australia vs Egypt - Round of 32 · Thursday 2nd July 2026
Australia
In many states, community pharmacy ownership is capped, for example in Victoria a pharmacist can own a maximum of three, and roughly 95% of all community pharmacies remain independent.
Australia's community pharmacy network is recognised as one solution to limited healthcare access in regional, rural and remote areas, home to around 7.5 million Australians.
Prescribing rights vary by state. Queensland has fully legislated autonomous prescribing allowing trained pharmacists to assess, diagnose and treat 22 common, acute conditions such as UTIs, shingles and otitis media without GP involvement, while Victoria, New South Wales, South Australia, Western Australia and the Northern Territory run pilot or committed programmes for managing acute conditions. The Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme subsidises a large list of medications for Medicare cardholders.
Egypt
Egypt has approximately 95,000 community pharmacies, a density that greatly exceeds the global average, with nearly 98% single-owner, independent businesses.
Ancient Egyptians wrote some of the oldest pharmaceutical prescriptions known, some dating to around 2900 BC. There is some advocacy for moving toward formal, independent prescriber models like Scotland's, but current focus remains on regulating existing dispensing practices and managing widespread over-the-counter antibiotic use.
By law, community pharmacists may only dispense medication against a physician's prescription, though this is strictly enforced solely for restricted medications such as narcotics and certain sedatives requiring a specifically stamped, multi-copy prescription. Loose regulation of antibiotic dispensing has contributed to rising antibiotic resistance, which the nationwide Universal Health Insurance Project (UHIP) rollout is now aiming to help address.
Score predictor
In pharmacy service provision terms, Australia take this one, but on the field this could be a very tight affair. With only two FIFA ranking places separating these two nations, penalties could well decide it, but we are being brave with our prediction, backing Mo Salah and Omar Marmoush to send Egypt through to the next phase.
Australia 1-2 Egypt
CPS is promoting NHS Pharmacy First Scotland this winter as new figures show almost two million people used the service in 2025/26.