National Pharmaceuticals Strategy

Since October 2004, the Ministerial Task Force charged with guiding the development and implementation of a National Pharmaceuticals Strategy (NPS) has been developing policies directed at the nine elements of the NPS:

• Develop, assess and cost options for catastrophic pharmaceutical coverage;
• Establish a common National Drug Formulary for participating jurisdictions based on safety and cost effectiveness;
• Accelerate access to breakthrough drugs for unmet health needs through improvements to the drug approval process;
• Strengthen evaluation of real-world drug safety and effectiveness;
• Pursue purchasing strategies to obtain best prices for Canadians for drugs and vaccines;
• Enhance action to influence the prescribing behaviour of health care professionals so that drugs are used only when needed and the right drug is used for the right problem;
• Broaden the practice of e-prescribing through accelerated development and deployment of the Electronic Health Record;
• Accelerate access to non-patented drugs and achieve international parity on prices of non-patented drugs;
• Enhance analysis of cost drivers and cost-effectiveness, including best practices in drug plan policies.

The Task Force is co-chaired by the federal minister of health and the British Columbia minister of health services, and includes representatives from all provinces and territories except Quebec. Since the striking of the Task Force, both the federal Ministry of Health, and the British Columbia Ministry of Health Services have set up Secretariats to support the work of the Task Force.

Healthcare Stakeholders across Canada are virtually unanimous in their concerns that the NPS, including the Ministerial Task Force, the two supporting secretariats and all the provincial and territorial government participants, are developing policies secretly with little or no consultations with patients, industry, health care charities, academics, or health care providers. Stakeholders are also concerned that the NPS is reluctant to share information or developments with stakeholders or the public.

NPSupdate.com is intended to amalgamate all relevant and current available information related to the NPS and to provide to stakeholders with up-to-date information on national activities and developments related to the NPS.