23. Pharmacare - Ottawa 2012 - Liberal Biennial Convention | Congrès biennal libéral – Ottawa 2012

23. Pharmacare

WHEREAS Canada’s current hybrid system for buying prescription drugs, with multiple public and private drug plans, is dysfunctional because many Canadians cannot afford vital drugs and because it means that people with drug benefits are covered for their drugs differently, according to which province they live in, or where they work, and not necessarily according to their medical needs;

WHEREAS more than three million Canadians admitted that they had not filled a prescription in the last year because they could not afford to do so;

WHEREAS Canada is the world’s second most expensive country for retail prices of prescription drugs, has the fastest rising drug costs among OECD countries while countries with universal pharmacare, like France, the U.K., Sweden, Australia and New Zealand, pay less for their drugs, and their costs increase at a much lower rate;

WHEREAS a study by Carleton University professor and Harvard research fellow Marc-Andre Gagnon estimate that savings to Canadians of a pharmacare program could be as much as $10.7 Billion per year;

BE IT RESOLVED that Canada should implement a universal pharmacare program, and institute changes to patent law and our industrial policies that will serve to keep the cost of any pharmacare program affordable and ensure that it will deliver the anticipated savings.

Liberal Party of Canada (Ontario)

via convention.liberal.ca