In the News

In 2004, as part of the 10-year plan to strengthen health care, first ministers directed federal, provincial and territorial health ministers to establish a ministerial task force to develop the National Pharmaceuticals Strategy (NPS). Expensive drugs for rare diseases are one of the five priority areas of the NPS.

Currently, two Saskatchewan residents with Fabry disease are involved in the Enzyme Replacement Therapy study.

Newfoundlanders and Labradorians with Multiple Sclerosis (MS) are waiting to see if the Williams government will provide universal coverage for MS drugs in the next provincial budget.

On the national level, the MS Society of Canada is pushing hard for a national pharmaceutical strategy to cover the so-called "catastrophic" drug costs.

Canadian provincial drug plan policy makers are keeping a close watch on developments in Quebec as an end to the price freeze for patented prescription drugs was announced last month.

The concept of a National Pharmacare Strategy is still being considered, but there is skepticism that any developments will be made in the near future.

The Ontario Health Coalition released a report card giving Harper failing grades for his health care strategy and refusal to move forward on a national pharmaceutical plan.

Provincial and territorial health ministers meet Friday to discuss timely access to health care, and health coalitions from across the country will be organizing events to draw attention to the dangers of Prime Minister Stephen Harper's federal health strategy.

The Canadian Pharmacists Association issued a media release supporting the findings of the Health Council of Canada's Annual Report 2007 that little progress has been made on implementing important aspects of a National Pharmaceuticals Strategy.

In a report released Thursday, the Health Council of Canada said the public has no sense of how health-care services have been improved since the 2003 First Ministers' Accord that pledged to renew the system and boosted funding by billions of dollars. So far, no National Pharmaceutical Strategy exists and there's no indication whether Ottawa would help cover costs of catastrophc drugs.

An overview of the first quarter update on the Transparent Drug System for Patients Act (Bill 102).

Provincial and territorial health ministers met to discuss the need for a national pharmaceutical strategy, pandemic plan and patient wait-times. The ministers promised to present a united front Saturday when asking federal Health Minister Tony Clement for more money to meet waiting-time guarantees for patients.

Patients and advocacy groups stressed the need for the provinces to work with insurance companies to implement a National Pharmaceutical Strategy to ensure that patients are provided with the necessary medications, not just the cheapest.

Wait times and access to services are areas that need to be targeted and the Canadian Healthcare Association would like to see a focus on a national pharmaceutical strategy to combat the rising cost of drugs.