Finance committee  I talked earlier about prevention. Obviously, prevention does have a cost, but it has been clearly shown that it is the most cost-effective medical intervention. It leads to cost savings. That is one possible way of reducing the deficit. Health care spending would decrease. There

Finance committee  The NIS is the National Immunization Strategy.

Finance committee  In fact, that is a very interesting question. I have been wondering for years why we have to fight every year to promote the importance of immunization. After all, it is well-known—it has been demonstrated not only in Canada but throughout the world—that immunization is by far th

Finance committee  There are about five companies producing vaccines right now. I gave the example of ZOSTAVAX, but there are other examples as well. There is a vaccine against rotavirus. It is not yet funded, but it has been approved for four years already. It has received a favourable opinion fro

Finance committee  That is a good question. Some companies make unique vaccines, but others produce vaccines that are somewhat similar. Canada has a bulk purchasing system for vaccines. Public Works and Government Services Canada is responsible for procuring vaccines and it uses a tendering process

Finance committee  On behalf of Merck Canada, I would like to thank the committee for the opportunity to present today. My name is Christian Blouin. I am the director of public health policy and government relations for vaccines at Merck. I would like to speak today about the importance of federall

Finance committee  No. In fact, when I was talking about 80 to 90% of the population, that percentage corresponds to the minimum required number of vaccinated people in the target group. We are talking about a cervical cancer vaccine. And so, at the outset, we have to eliminate half of the populati

Finance committee  We have met with all of the public health committees in Canada, as well as with representatives of the Public Health Agency of Canada, where a committee is currently evaluating the vaccine.

Finance committee  Absolutely. In fact, I talked about Gardasil, but we launched at the same time, at the end of August, RotaTeq. That is a vaccine for rotavirus, a major cause of gastroenteritis in young kids. About a year from now we will have another breakthrough, a vaccine against shingles. Th

Finance committee  I don't know if that's the exact dollar amount, but one thing that's clear--not only in Canada, not only in Quebec, but around the world--is that world experts fully agree that vaccination and immunization are by far the most cost-effective medical interventions that exist. The o

Finance committee  There's a bunch of studies under way right now, but in terms of the cervical cancer cost annually in Canada, the most conservative number at this stage is about $270 million. This is only direct cost right now. So when you're talking about societal costs and the impact on women's

Finance committee  Absolutely. Thank you for your question. I think for women's health, it's a very important breakthrough. In fact, pap testing many years ago, in the 1940s, was probably the most significant achievement in the prevention of cervical cancer, but even with pap testing, there are s

Finance committee  I am not sure that I know the answer; that is why my colleague Rob Livingston is with me today. In fact, all levels of research are important to Merck Frosst in Canada. This is true not only for basic research, for clinical research, but also for social research. It is the same

Finance committee  I would be pleased to answer that question. First, we have to be clear and not confuse the two issues. The recommendations and requests we made will ensure that Canadians have access to vaccines to protect their health. Our first request was precisely that the government reconsi

Finance committee  Right now, in the public health care system, the vaccine is sold for under $134.95 a dose. It's a three-dose treatment. So we're talking about approximately $405.