Poland · Advertising framework
Advertising OTC medicines on websites in Poland
General market orientation, not campaign clearance. Research scope and dates
Key restrictions and conditions
OTC status alone does not establish public-advertising eligibility
Legal requirement — paraphrased
Check the exact medicine and brand. Public restrictions also cover controlled substances, reimbursed medicines and specified shared-name products, including OTC names identical to prescription medicines.
Sources: Pharmaceutical Law — consolidated text, Dz.U. 2026 item 612 · Article 57
First decide whether the message is medicine advertising
Legal requirement — paraphrased
Promotion intended to increase prescribing, supply, sale or consumption falls within the medicine-advertising regime. Unbranded disease education is excluded only if it makes no even indirect reference to medicines. Advertising must be conducted by, or commissioned by, the marketing-authorisation holder.
Sources: Pharmaceutical Law — consolidated text, Dz.U. 2026 item 612 · Articles 52 and 60
Product and service rules
Use authorised, balanced medicine information
Legal requirement — paraphrased
Do not advertise unauthorised medicines or claims inconsistent with the SmPC. Public advertising cannot target children or use celebrity, scientist or medical/pharmacy-professional presentation or recommendations. No guaranteed cure, absence-of-side-effects or natural-means-safe claims; no purchasing rewards.
Sources: Pharmaceutical Law — consolidated text, Dz.U. 2026 item 612; GIF — Advertising medicinal products · Articles 53, 55–57
Build required product information into the advertisement
Legal requirement — paraphrased
Include the medicine name, common active-substance name, strength (subject to combination-product exceptions), pharmaceutical form, indication and marketing-authorisation holder, consistent with the SmPC. Details must be readable or clearly audible.
Sources: Medicine advertising regulation — consolidated text, Dz.U. 2023 item 1648 · Section 6
Use the current statutory warning and rotate variants
Legal requirement — paraphrased
Use one of the three Polish warning variants in sections 7–9 of the advertising regulation. Successive newly developed advertisements for the same medicine must change the previous variant and use all variants. Do not reuse the old pre-2023 warning from GIF's general overview.
Sources: Medicine advertising regulation — consolidated text, Dz.U. 2023 item 1648 · Sections 7–9
Apply medicine warnings according to the creative format
Legal requirement — paraphrased
Audiovisual: bottom warning area at least 20%, clearly read in Polish and displayed for at least eight seconds. Audio: clearly read in Polish for at least eight seconds. Visual: bottom area at least 10%; first page for multipage material. Apply the regulation's contrast, static horizontal text and spacing requirements.
Sources: Medicine advertising regulation — consolidated text, Dz.U. 2023 item 1648 · Sections 7(2), 8(2), 9(2)–(3)
Add the separate traditional-herbal information where applicable
Legal requirement — paraphrased
Applies when: The product is a traditional herbal medicinal product within Pharmaceutical Law Article 20a(1).
Section 4 requires additional information explaining that the indications of a traditional herbal medicine rest exclusively on long-standing use. This is additional product information, not a replacement for the public medicine warning. Apply it only to the statutory traditional-herbal category.
Sources: Medicine advertising regulation — consolidated text, Dz.U. 2023 item 1648 · Advertising regulation section 4
Channel rules
Make the overall message truthful and commercially identifiable
Legal requirement — paraphrased
Misleading claims, material omissions, hidden commercial intent and aggressive consumer marketing are prohibited. Assess visuals, comparisons, qualifications and the impression on vulnerable consumers. Do not falsely claim that a product cures illness.
Editorial control: retain substantiation before publication, remove fabricated urgency or authority badges, and check that qualifications do not contradict the headline. Paying to publish apparently independent advice must not conceal its commercial nature.
Sources: Act on Counteracting Unfair Market Practices — consolidated text, Dz.U. 2023 item 845 · Articles 4–9; Article 7 hidden advertising and false cure claims
Check price reductions only after establishing that promotion is lawful
Legal requirement — paraphrased
Where an advertisement announces a reduction for a good or service, state the relevant lowest price from the preceding 30 days alongside the reduced price. For a shorter selling history, use the lowest price since sales began; special rules apply to rapidly perishable goods.
This consumer-information rule does not permit a discount or purchasing incentive prohibited by medicine or service rules. As an editorial check, make the total scope and extra charges clear.
Sources: UOKiK — Information about price reductions · Price Information Act Article 4 as explained by UOKiK
Keep reviews genuine and explain verification
Legal requirement — paraphrased
Do not publish, commission or distort false consumer recommendations. If making consumer reviews available, explain whether and how their origin is verified. Do not claim authentic-user verification without reasonable, proportionate checks.
Selecting a patient or customer story for advertising also requires checking the sector's claims and endorsement restrictions. A genuine testimonial can still contain an unlawful health claim.
Sources: UOKiK — False reviews? Stop!; Act on Counteracting Unfair Market Practices — consolidated text, Dz.U. 2023 item 845 · Unfair-practices Act Articles 6–7; UOKiK reviews guidance
Keep health data out of routine advertising workflows
Legal requirement — paraphrased
Establish a lawful processing basis, transparency and purpose limits. Health/genetic data also require a valid Article 9 condition; a treatment relationship does not automatically justify marketing reuse. Honour direct-marketing objections and withdrawable consent.
Editorial safeguard: keep symptoms, diagnoses, test results and appointment details out of advertising pixels, URLs, audience uploads and creator briefs unless a separately assessed lawful arrangement permits the processing.
Sources: Regulation (EU) 2016/679 — General Data Protection Regulation · Articles 5–7, 9, 13–14 and 21
Assess cookies, pixels and device access separately
Legal requirement — paraphrased
Prior information and consent are required for terminal storage/access unless a statutory exception applies, such as what is necessary for transmission or a service requested by the user. Ordinary advertising tracking should not be treated as necessary merely because it funds the website.
As an implementation control, test the consent mechanism before loading advertising tags and keep the privacy-processing assessment separate from the cookie-consent check.
Sources: Electronic Communications Law — Dz.U. 2024 item 1221 · Article 399
Review the complete website and landing-page journey
Editorial recommendation
Check headlines, product cards, appointment buttons, testimonials, quizzes and linked checkout or booking pages as a single journey. Keep mandatory information legible on mobile. A factual clinic directory entry and a persuasive sales landing page need different scrutiny.
For a medicine or regulated-device ad, apply the actual visual/audio/video format requirements on the page. Do not assume a footer disclaimer or a link cures missing statutory information in the advertisement.
Sources: Act on Counteracting Unfair Market Practices — consolidated text, Dz.U. 2023 item 845; Medicine advertising regulation — consolidated text, Dz.U. 2023 item 1648; Medical-device advertising regulation — Dz.U. 2023 item 817 · Consumer omissions and applicable sector-format provisions
Campaign workflow
Keep one campaign evidence and approval record
Editorial recommendation
Recommended workflow: record the exact offer and legal classification, advertiser, selected channel and creative formats; list permitted claims and evidence; review the Polish execution and destination; record sign-off, publication and corrections.
Keep the source date with the rule. Recheck legislation flagged as changing, especially pharmacy advertising. Preserve statutory archive periods where they apply; this suggested general workflow does not create a universal retention period.
Sources: URPL — Advertising medical devices; Sejm official API — Pharmacy advertising amendment, process 3002 · Specific retention and legislative-watch sources; workflow is editorial
Pre-publication checklist
- Copy the current Polish warning from the regulation and check the previous advertisement's warning variant.
- Review every tracking event and audience input for health-data disclosure.
- Inspect the mobile page with overlays, consent banner and embedded media visible.
- Record the category gate before reviewing the channel.
- Approve the final creative, disclosure, targeting and landing page together.
- Assign an owner for corrections, expiry of claims and legislative updates.
Scope and unresolved questions
- Product authorisations, intended users, approved documentation and final Polish creative must be checked for the actual offer. Veterinary products, controlled substances, vaccine exceptions and specialist product subtypes are not separately cleared by this category-level guide.
- Check the chosen platform/provider's current health-advertising, tracking and targeting policies for the actual account and country. This source pack covers legal/regulator rules, not every vendor policy.
Research scope, introduction and dates
An OTC medicine campaign on websites in Poland needs more than an over-the-counter label. This framework starts with the exact product's advertising eligibility, then connects SmPC-based claims and required warnings with the chosen format.
On a website, the headline, product card, testimonial, embedded video and booking or checkout page all contribute to the message. Follow the rules below across that journey, rather than reviewing the landing-page text in isolation.
General market orientation, not legal, regulatory or medical advice, a complete compliance plan or clearance of an advertisement. Actual requirements depend on the specific offer and campaign.
Resolve product and service restrictions before choosing a channel
Editorial overview
A platform label, newsletter consent, an advertising warning or a publisher's acceptance does not create permission to advertise. Apply the selected product/service gate first; if public promotion is prohibited, use this guide to identify the restriction and alternatives for specialist review.
This English guide describes Polish requirements. Required Polish warning text and locally understandable disclosure remain necessary where the law requires them.
Sources: Pharmaceutical Law — consolidated text, Dz.U. 2026 item 612; Healthcare Activity Act — consolidated text, Dz.U. 2026 item 156; Medical Devices Act — consolidated working text based on Dz.U. 2024 item 1620 · Product/service rules referenced in matching modules
Sources
- Pharmaceutical Law — consolidated text, Dz.U. 2026 item 612
Consolidation reflects 8 April 2026. Later amendments exist; pharmacy advertising must also be read with the CJEU judgment and the October 2026 legislative tracker in the pharmacy framework. This is a targeted advertising review, not an audit of the entire Act.
- Healthcare Activity Act — consolidated text, Dz.U. 2026 item 156
Public information must not have advertising characteristics. Information supplied at a patient's request under paragraph 2 is a different context.
- Medical Devices Act — consolidated working text based on Dz.U. 2024 item 1620
The inspected PDF is dated 19 November 2024. Advertising provisions were cross-checked against the current URPL advertising overview; recheck amendments before campaign sign-off.
- GIF — Advertising medicinal products
The warning quoted on this older overview is superseded; use the medicine advertising regulation for warnings.
- Medicine advertising regulation — consolidated text, Dz.U. 2023 item 1648
Follow-up review of the cited issue on 25 October 2026; scope and remaining conditions are recorded in the modules and review register.
- Act on Counteracting Unfair Market Practices — consolidated text, Dz.U. 2023 item 845
- UOKiK — Information about price reductions
- UOKiK — False reviews? Stop!
The 30 July 2024 announcement also describes enforcement decisions; their subsequent appeal status is not asserted here.
- Regulation (EU) 2016/679 — General Data Protection Regulation
A healthcare-processing basis does not automatically authorise advertising use.
- Electronic Communications Law — Dz.U. 2024 item 1221
Original official text checked for these provisions. The Act has later amendments; this is a targeted review of the cited rules, not a complete consolidation audit.
- Medical-device advertising regulation — Dz.U. 2023 item 817
Follow-up review of the cited issue on 25 October 2026; scope and remaining conditions are recorded in the modules and review register.
- URPL — Advertising medical devices
- Sejm official API — Pharmacy advertising amendment, process 3002
Follow-up review of the cited issue on 25 October 2026; scope and remaining conditions are recorded in the modules and review register.
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