Pharmaceutical-Related Strategies for Health Care Reform in Canada: Federal Party Principles, Priorities, and Actions 2004–2006

Abstract

Background: The guiding principle of the Canada Health Act (CHA) is to provide Canadians with “medically necessary care.” We note the historic limitations of the CHA with respect to the full integration of medicines and pharmaceutical health care and point to the priority given to drugs and pharmacy-related care in 2 recent federal reports on health care reform. In The Health of Canadians — The Federal Role (Kirby 2002) and Building on Values: The Future of Health Care in Canada and its related submissions (Romanow 2002), the role of drugs and pharmacy in Canadian health care receives unprecedented emphasis. Methods: To determine whether the emphasis on pharmacare made by Kirby, Romanow, and others is retained in federal-level health reform planning, we conducted a content analysis of major federal party platforms and policies tabled for the spring 2004 election (as well as brief reference to those tabled for the winter 2006 election). Results: Recommended pharmacy-related reforms focus on potential catastrophic costs to individual patients rather than on a consideration of essential medicines as medically necessary for a growing number of Canadians. Furthermore, little consideration is given to the role pharmacists could play in minimizing the potential risks of inappropriate drug use and associated costs. Discussion: We consider the difficulty of reconciling the principles of the CHA and the reality of a piecemeal pharmaceutical health care system. Conclusion: Health reforms are needed that take into consideration the growing importance of drugs in health care and the issue of equity and access to drugs for Canadians.