Consumer Healthcare products are wide ranging and include OTC medicines such as herbals, cosmetics and nutraceuticals (vitamins and supplements). Within this sector are globally recognisable brands available without medical prescription in pharmacies and supermarkets, either by pharmacist control or by self-selection.
The increased awareness of consumers to the treatment of minor conditions, through both education as well as promotion, has led to the expansion of the Consumer Healthcare sector. OTC medicines comprise well-established active ingredients with well-known effects in large numbers of the population, over a long period of time (decades). Irrespective of this perceived safety, these products do not have reduced regulatory and quality control burden.