Health committee  Thank you so much for the question. As of April, 4,500 patients in Quebec have received Paxlovid, and about 70% of those prescriptions have been written by pharmacists. A key enabler, I would say, has been virtual prescribing, so that symptomatic patients don't show up at the ph

Health committee  If I may be so bold....

Health committee  I have to say that I see such a strong role for pharmacists in addressing both vaccine hesitancy and misinformation. I was someone who gave COVID-19 vaccines and had this beautiful, protected time with patients, when I could make sure the experience was a positive one, so they fe

Health committee  Thank you, Mr. Chair. Good evening and thank you for the opportunity to bring a pharmacist's perspective to this important work. My name is Dr. Danielle Paes. I am the chief pharmacist officer at the Canadian Pharmacists Association. Today I am joining you from the traditional

Health committee  You know, virtual care is double-edged. It's wonderful, because it gives access to patients in the comfort of their home. That being said, not everybody has access to technology, such as in rural parts of northern Ontario. I spoke to a pharmacist who said he had to set up a kiosk

Health committee  The lack of consistency is a huge area of frustration to the profession because, depending on where you're practising, you're able to do things...and the funding and support to be able to offer the services that we are capable of giving to our patients is limited. There's a huge

Health committee  Absolutely. This is again about making sure that we are giving Canadians access to the medications and the services that they need, regardless of the postal code they live in. We need to see this type of progressive, creative, “meet the patients where they're at” approach to heal

Health committee  Could I interject?

Health committee  Can I add to that?

Health committee  National licensure would also promote mobility between provinces. We want to have a national approach to making sure we understand the needs, and right now we don't have any data to support the demands. We know what the supply is, but we really need to look at what the demands ar

Health committee  Absolutely. Paxlovid is a really great example—nd kudos to Quebec for enabling pharmacists to participate in increasing patients' access to it, getting it into the hands of high-risk individuals and keeping them out of hospitals. I think it's really about optimizing our educatio

Health committee  Thank you for the question. Drug shortages are a part of the daily life of community pharmacists. The pandemic made it more stressful. It made the pressures more significant. It ebbs and flows. I think the reality is that pharmacists and the government need to have conversati

Health committee  Absolutely. Just imagine what it's like to be the face that is delivering that message to your patient: You're not going to be able to continue with the therapy that you've been on because it's just not available. It requires us to become creative problem-solvers. We need to co

Health committee  Good afternoon and thank you for the opportunity to be part of this important and timely study. My name is Danielle Paes and I am the chief pharmacist officer for the Canadian Pharmacists Association. Today, I am joining you from the traditional and unceded territory of the Conf