Thank you.
Mr. Chair, committee members, thank you for the opportunity to appear before you today. My name is Connie Côté, and I am the executive director of the Health Charities Coalition of Canada. As Mr. Webber said, joining me is Debra Lynkowski, who is a member of our governing council and president and CEO of the Canadian Lung Association, which is one of the 30 members of our coalition.
First and foremost, I would like to express our gratitude to Parliament for initiating discussions on the issue of pharmacare and for taking important steps in working collaboratively with the provinces and territories to find solutions.
The Health Charities Coalition of Canada is a member-based organization comprising 30 national health charities and patient groups. Our members represent the majority of Canadians affected by health issues. We reach millions of people every year. We work together to improve health by identifying gaps, monitoring trends, promoting and improving best practices, and investing in health research. We believe in patient partnerships, and we create meaningful opportunities for patients to participate in the planning, decision-making, and review processes, such as the CADTH review process. Most importantly, we are a trusted source of information. Canadians rely on our members to provide evidence-informed, consumer-friendly information about disease.
The perspectives we share with you today come from the patients and the families we work with every day. We're here to tell you that access to medicine is extremely important to Canadians.
Imagine the following. A doctor continues to have repeat visits from a patient who has chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. The patient is experiencing severe exacerbations that are bringing him back into the clinic repeatedly, and occasionally into the emergency room. The doctor is concerned that the prescribed treatment is not working, until one day his patient confesses that he's only been using his inhaler once a day rather than twice a day, as prescribed. Why? Because he can't afford to renew his prescription. He thought he would reduce the number of times he took it per day and make it last a little bit longer.
A young woman living with arthritis has just completed her degree. She has secured an entry-level position and is eager to enter the workforce. What should be an exciting time of her life has turned into a nightmare. Now that she has graduated from university, she is no longer eligible for insurance under her parents' plan. In order to manage her symptoms, she takes a TNF-alpha inhibitor known as a biologic. The cost is over $1,800 per month. She is registered for the catastrophic drug coverage plan in her province, only to learn that the drug she needs is not listed on their formulary as a treatment option for her disease. She's distraught. Just imagine not being able to gain access to the medication you need. In her case, this results in her pain and symptoms becoming unmanageable, and ultimately she's not able to work. She feels defeated.
These are the stories we hear every single day. So what can we do?
The Health Charities Coalition of Canada believes all people living in Canada should have equitable and timely access to necessary prescription medications, based on the best possible health outcomes rather than the ability to pay.
We have three recommendations that we will elaborate on today: one, that the Government of Canada create an advisory panel to establish comprehensive, evidence-based, pan-Canadian standards for pharmacare; two, that the Government of Canada also take a leadership role and share the cost in implementing these standards; and three, that health charities and the Canadians they represent be active participants in any federal, provincial, and territorial consultations on pharmacare.
From the patient perspective, inequitable access to medication has a very real and profound effect. It means that people cannot afford or access the medications they need. By way of example, 57% of people living with diabetes report that they do not comply with their prescribed therapy because they cannot afford their medications, devices, and supplies, thus potentially compromising their ability to manage their disease.
While the majority of Canadians have some level of drug coverage, either through an employer-sponsored program, privately purchased insurance, or a provincial drug program, many Canadians still report challenges in accessing medication.