Need to revive national strategy for prescription drugs: Health Council of Canada

摘要

The National Pharmaceuticals Strategy (NPS) - which began in 2004 with unprecedented government commitments to ensure affordable and safe prescription drugs for all Canadians - has faltered and today largely remains "a prescription unfilled," says the Health Council of Canada.In a status report on the NPS, released January 30, 2009, the Health Council states that many of the initiatives promised in the original federal and provincial/ territorial agreement have stalled. As a result, Canada still has no national approach to catastrophic drug coverage, and has made little progress in the quest to improve prescribing practices and reduce medication errors. Meanwhile, the escalation of prescription drug costs is exacting a heavy financial toll on both governments and individual Canadians.