Thank you.
I would like to thank all of the witnesses who have come here today to provide us with information, advice, solutions and explanations regarding the reasons for the shortages, in particular. This is a topical issue. As many stakeholders have stated, this problem is becoming more and more serious as the years go by. I feel it is therefore somewhat unfortunate that people are trying to point a finger at some stakeholders in particular. I believe that this problem involves the entire system, and as several people have already said, all stakeholders, the various government levels and industry need to cooperate so that we can put the interests and needs of patients foremost. This is extremely important.
We have been told that the reporting requirements were problematic, but we also heard that certain suppliers had a monopoly and that there was a need to diversify sources of supply. Have you got any models or examples from other countries? Sweden comes to mind, where the government has a public supplier that provides 2% of the system's essential drugs.
Could the federal government offer incentives to encourage new secondary manufacturers, so that we do not have to rely on one provider of essential drugs? Should Health Canada and the Minister of Health be giving greater consideration to this alternative?
Moreover, we have seen that the voluntary reporting system currently in effect does not work very well. I have spoken to several local stakeholders, in Quebec. They told me that they did not really consult this site. In your opinion, is this because the system is not sufficiently effective, is it because people do not know about it, or is it because the information provided is neither relevant nor timely?
In mid-March, we unanimously adopted a motion calling upon the federal government to take initiatives in consultation with the provinces. What more can we do? Clearly, we need to take action at the federal level. But in terms of concrete action, what can we do to help people and patients feel secure about their medication?