Canada has made a federal budget commitment to supporting a national pharmacare programme. This can be bolstered through strengthening Canada’s domestic generics pharmaceutical industry.
At present, Canada does not have a national pharmacare programme, but instead individual provinces have their own drug coverage schemes. This is great in regions like British Columbia (BC), where the roll out new or expanded coverage for treatments for a range of conditions appears continual. For example, Canada’s Ministry of Health reported that in BC, new drugs have recently been rolled out to treat conditions including ulcerative colitis and Crohn’s disease, severely low blood sugar, migraines, low white blood cell levels, multiple sclerosis, blood clots and heart failure [1-3]. In addition, BC PharmaCare coverage has been expanded to include a long-acting, birth control drug that is implanted in the patient’s upper arm. However, this coverage is not universal across the country. A national pharmacare is likely to improve health outcomes for lower-income Canadians and save money for all.
Through the national pharmacare, Canada could take better advantage of the cost savings that come through increased use of generic medicines. In addition, if Canada produced the medicines prescribed, this would also support the domestic generics pharmaceutical industry, securing jobs and the safety of the national drugs supply.
The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted Canada’s need for domestic security in drug supply. However, securing this in times of high inflation and a stressed geopolitical environment that threatens supply chains, is not easy. In many circumstances, the active pharmaceutical ingredients are produced abroad in countries such as China and India.
With a reduction in domestic pharmaceutical production of 35% since 2019, Canada’s federal commitment to a national pharmacare programme presents an opportunity to improve prescription drug coverage for Canadians, reduce costs to taxpayers and patients through increased use of generic medicines, and can also strengthen Canada’s domestic pharmaceutical manufacturing sector and international supply chain.
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References
1. GaBI Online - Generics and Biosimilars Initiative. British Columbia adds coverage for three new enoxaparin biosimilars [www.gabionline.net]. Mol, Belgium: Pro Pharma Communications International; [cited 2022 Jun 10]. Available from: www.gabionline.net/biosimilars/general/british-columbia-adds-coverage-for-three-new-enoxaparin-biosimilars
2. GaBI Online - Generics and Biosimilars Initiative. Canada approves heparin biosimilars Redesca and Redesca HP [www.gabionline.net]. Mol, Belgium: Pro Pharma Communications International; [cited 2022 Jun 10]. Available from: www.gabionline.net/biosimilars/news/Canada-approves-heparin-biosimilars-Redesca-and-Redesca-HP
3. GaBI Online - Generics and Biosimilars Initiative. Canada approves enoxaparin biosimilars Inclunox and Noromby [www.gabionline.net]. Mol, Belgium: Pro Pharma Communications International; [cited 2022 Jun 10]. Available from: www.gabionline.net/biosimilars/news/Canada-approves-enoxaparin-biosimilars-Inclunox-and-Noromby
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