This article originally appeared in Saltwire. Below is an excerpt from the article.
By Nigel Rawson, July 17, 2024
Two in five Canadians can expect to be diagnosed with cancer in their lifetime and about one in four will die from it.
Cancer puts a staggering C$26.2 billion economic burden on our country, with almost a third of that being carried by patients and their families. While effective new drugs have been developed in recent years that can advance cancer treatment beyond the “cut, burn and chemo” era, medicines will only benefit patients if they are accessible.
There are two key obstacles to accessing new drugs that exist in Canada. The first is the assessments performed by Canada’s Drug Agency (CDA) – formerly CADTH. Their purpose is to make recommendations to all government drug plans (except Quebec’s) about whether to reimburse medicines. The second is the price negotiations conducted with drug developers by the pan-Canadian Pharmaceutical Alliance (pCPA) on behalf of all government drug plans.
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