Share your thoughts: Consultation on draft National Priority List of Pediatric Drugs
From: Health Canada
Current status: Closed
Opened on October 21, 2024, and closed on December 20, 2024.
As part of the Pediatric Drug Action Plan, Health Canada is working with stakeholders to develop a National Priority List of Pediatric Drugs. This priority list will identify drugs that address unmet pediatric health needs in Canada and help to facilitate access to these drugs.
Learn more:
Why we held this consultation
We held a 60-day online nomination process with members of the pediatric medical and pharmacist community to identify drugs that could be considered for the priority list. An external group of pediatric experts appointed by us considered the feedback when drafting an initial list for further consideration.
We then consulted with people in Canada on the proposed list. The consultation was open for 60 days.
Pediatric External Reference Group
People who were the focus of this consultation
This consultation was open to all people living in Canada. This includes patients, family members, advocacy organizations and anyone else who may have been interested.
What we heard: Draft National Priority List of Pediatric Drugs
Some medicines that are approved for use in children and available in child-friendly formats in other countries are not currently available in Canada. Making these drugs available in Canada would benefit children who need them, especially those who require child-friendly formulations.
Health Canada is working to address this gap through the National Priority List of Pediatric Drugs (NPLPD). This list is a key initiative under the Pediatric Drug Action Plan.
Learn more about the Pediatric Drug Action Plan.
The list will help identify drugs with medicinal ingredients needed for pediatric populations that are approved for sale in other countries but in Canada are not yet:
- approved for sale
- available in a child-friendly format or
- indicated for use in children
We expect to update the list as needed.
In fall 2024, Health Canada held a consultation on a draft NPLPD (the draft list). The purpose of the consultation was to gather feedback from people living in Canada on the initiative and the draft list of drugs. It also provided an opportunity to nominate additional pediatric drugs for Health Canada’s consideration.
During the 60-day consultation period, we received responses from 47 individuals and four stakeholder organizations.
The individual respondents were mostly:
- pharmacists
- other health care providers
- industry representatives
- academics
Over 20 % of respondents did not disclose their affiliation.
Respondents who identified their location were from the provinces of Quebec, Ontario, Manitoba, British Columbia and Alberta.
Feedback on the initiative was generally positive. Respondents noted that the draft list broadly reflected unmet needs, though it was not exhaustive. Several respondents nominated additional drugs for consideration.
Of the 159 new drugs nominated, the majority had already been nominated by the medical community and considered for inclusion on the draft list prior to the consultation. New nominations that had not been previously considered may be used to inform future versions of the NPLPD.
Several individuals also noted the need for greater transparency around how drugs were prioritized for inclusion on the draft list.
Most respondents viewed the draft list as a key first step in improving access to pediatric drugs in Canada. Some noted that additional steps would be required to bring these products to market. General feedback on next steps included suggestions to improve regulatory oversight of pediatric drug submissions, including streamlining the submission and authorisation process.
To access the final NPLPD visit:
Related information
Contact us
Centre for Policy, Pediatrics and International Collaboration
Biologic and Radiopharmaceutical Drugs Directorate
Health Products and Food Branch
Health Canada
Email: brdd-cppic_brdd-cppci@hc-sc.gc.ca