England is now the only UK country where some NHS patients still pay for prescription charges.
Scotland has today joined Northern Ireland and Wales in scrapping fees for prescriptions.
About half a million people in Scotland are expected to benefit from the change, which has been brought in by the SNP government.
It comes on the same day as charges per item rise in England by 20p to £7.40.
Prescription charges were first introduced in 1952 - just four years after the NHS was set up - in order to prevent the "frivolous use" of the health service.
The fees were abolished in Wales on April 1, 2007 and Northern Ireland followed in 2010.
