Thank you for that question. It's an important component of this discussion.
My personal strength is not in economic analysis. What we've been able to bring to the table are the unbiased and non-business interested analyses by other groups. These analyses are those in which we have trust. When we cite increasing costs or our drug prices, we are relying on those analyses and we perceive that the consequences of the TPP and potentially other agreements are severe.
At the front line, every day nurses see individuals not filling prescriptions or they are skipping doses of medications. The numbers have been cited as being in excess of one in five Canadians or as low as one in ten, but that's still significant. That translates into higher costs for managing chronic disease in Canada, more admissions to hospital, longer lengths of stay, and essentially poorer health outcomes for many Canadians from coast to coast.
You are also well versed, I'm sure, in some of the challenges in communities that live under conditions of vulnerability, such as first nations populations or low-income communities. In those communities you would see even more severe consequences. It is very common for nurses to see the same patients readmitted time and time again for the same simple health conditions that could be very easily managed by proper filling and proper compliance with simple generic prescriptions.