The following statement was released by Sandra Hanna, CEO of Neighbourhood Pharmacy Association of Canada, following the tabling of Bill C-64: An Act respecting pharmacare in the House of Commons:
Neighbourhood Pharmacy Association of Canada is encouraged by today’s introduction of the Bill C-64: An Act respecting pharmacare in the House of Commons.
We agree with policymakers across the country that all Canadians deserve access to the medications they need to live a healthy life.
While the Conference Board of Canada estimates that more than 97% of Canadians are eligible for some form of drug coverage, we know that some Canadians do not have any coverage or are underinsured. Canada’s priority must be helping those who don’t have coverage and those with insufficient coverage, without disrupting the majority of Canadians who have drug coverage.
Neighbourhood Pharmacies recognizes the federal government’s efforts to ensure all Canadians have access to contraceptives and essential diabetes medications. As an organization representing health hubs in communities across the country, we are supportive of every women’s right to reproductive health and, for those Canadians living with diabetes, ensuring they have the access to the medication they need without financial barrier. We encourage the federal government to focus their efforts on ensuring all Canadians currently without access to these medications are prioritized in a way that achieves universal coverage for all Canadians in a fiscally responsible manner by building on the existing coverage that Canadians already have.
Moving forward, working in partnership with the provinces and territories, we can ensure that no Canadian has to go without the medication they need to live a healthy life. On behalf of community pharmacies from coast to coast to coast, Neighbourhood Pharmacy Association of Canada looks forward to continuing to work with federal, provincial and territorial governments and health system leaders to enshrine a national pharmacare program that ensures all Canadians have improved access to the medications they need, when they need them most.
The full text of Bill C-64 can be reviewed here