This is the last reduction before prescription medication becomes free for everyone in April 2011.
The new charges are:
* £3 for a single prescription item
* £10 for a 4 month Prescription Pre-payment Certificate (PPC)
* £28 for a 12 month PPC
This latest drop in charges means that Scots who buy annual PPCs will save a total of £180 each since the reduction in costs was introduced.
Minister for Public Health Shona Robison said:
"In these tough economic times, hundreds of thousands of people are already better off thanks to our action and they will continue to be better off as we move to full abolition.
"Healthcare should be free at the point of access for everyone - this is the founding principle of the NHS. Removing the prescription charge will ensure that cost is not a barrier to those needing to take the medication prescribed to them.
"A year on year increase in Prescription Pre-payment Certificate sales prove that this policy is helping even more patients, particularly those with long term conditions and others who require the greatest number of prescription items."
Sally Greig, from Fife, who lives with eczema, said:
"I have to buy cream, inhalers, steroid ointments and anti-histamines for my eczema so when prescriptions were £6.85 per item it was really expensive for me.
"The reduction in prescription charges has changed the way I use these medicines. In the past I would scrimp on them, sometimes using creams that were out of date or not getting as much as I needed but I don't do that now.
"The reduced cost has also allowed me to take my Doctor's advice and try different kinds of treatments to see what works best for my skin. It can be a trial and error process and I wouldn't have done that when prescriptions were more expensive.
"I am glad that the cost of prescriptions has been reduced again and am looking forward to all medicines becoming free for everyone next year. I have already saved money and this is set to continue."
This latest reduction in charges will be further publicised through poster and leaflet advertising detailing the newly reduced charges.
Patients who buy annual PPCs will have saved £50 and £60, respectively, each year since the policy was introduced. They will save a further £70 when they buy their PPC from today. That represents a total of £180 over these three years.
In the last financial year there were 408,000 PPC sales. This is an increase from 169,000 PPC sales in 2007-08.
There are around 600,000 adults living in families in Scotland with an annual income of less than £16,000 who are not entitled to free prescriptions.
In December 2007 the Scottish Government announced its decision to abolish prescription charges for all patients in Scotland from April 2011.
The phasing out of charges is following the planned approach shown below:
PDF version England is now the only part of the UK still charging for some prescriptions after Scotland joined Northern Ireland and Wales in abolishing the fees.
About half a million people in Scotland should benefit from the change brought in by the SNP government.
It comes on the same day charges per item rise in England by 20p to £7.40.
The NHS in England raises more than £450m a year from the charges but some doctors and patients' groups want free prescriptions across the UK.
The British Medical Association and the Patients Association have both campaigned for the change.
Some 90% of items dispensed in England are exempt from charges but the NHS says the income from the remaining 10% would pay for 18,000 nurses.
Prescription charges have been falling in Scotland for the last three years and stood at £3 before today's change, which will mean the Scottish government losing out on £57m a year.
Under devolution, Wales was the first part of the UK to make prescriptions free - four years ago - and Northern Ireland followed in 2010.
Prescriptions were free for all when the NHS was set up in 1948.
MSPs have voted to scrap NHS prescription charges in Scotland, a key SNP pledge in the 2007 elections.
The Scottish government won the approval of Holyrood's health committee to remove the current £3 charge.
A last-ditch Conservative and Lib Dem move to block the plan failed.
The price paid by patients for prescription medicine has been reduced each year since 2008 and the final vote will see charges removed in April.
Labour supports the plan but the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats believe the cash could be better spent in other areas.
Scottish government health minister Shona Robison said lifting the charge would reduce the long-term cost to the health service and would no longer put people off going to see their doctor.
Wales and Northern Ireland have already removed NHS prescription charges, which cost £7.20 per item in England.
The Scottish government has played down the risk of people in England travelling across the border to claim free prescriptions.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-12612623