Consultation guide on improving access to drugs and other health products in Canada: Building a strategy together

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• A collective response towards prevention
• Let's hear from you

A collective response towards prevention

The Government of Canada is one player in a complex health product ecosystem. Effectively preventing and mitigating shortages relies on a multi-stakeholder approach, where a variety of players have important roles. These players include health care professionals, provinces and territories, industry, academia, the media and the public.

Through early engagement on drug and other health product shortages, key pressure points have emerged. These include:

• too few tools to support data collection, analysis and information-sharing
• limits to existing shortage regulatory tools and that they don't apply to non-prescription drugs and other products such as infant formulas
• a lack of visibility of the full supply chain, which makes it difficult to proactively prevent shortages
• limited ability throughout the supply chain to prepare for and respond to sudden unanticipated changes in the drug supply
  • for example, stockpile of extra supplies beyond regular inventory (commonly known as safety stocks), supply diversification

It's critical that people in Canada get the drugs and other health products they need when they need them. By taking new steps to improve supply chain resilience, the Government of Canada can help meet this goal.

To strengthen the resilience of Canada's drug and other health product supply chains, we must first focus on preventing shortages. All the necessary regulatory tools must be in place. Data must be used to inform and support proactive measures. We must also share information widely among all stakeholders, including the public, and coordinate government and stakeholder efforts to support health product accessibility for all.

Let's hear from you

For all the pressure points contributing to shortages, there are actions that can be led by the Government of Canada and/or by other players. The next section includes key areas for action and discussion questions to guide your responses.

For each area, consider what interventions are required to further shield vulnerable subpopulations from the impacts of shortages, with a particular focus on Indigenous populations and children. We are committed to supporting vulnerable subpopulations and will engage directly with patient advocacy groups and Indigenous communities.

And when prevention is not possible, the best path forward is for all players to take coordinated efforts to mitigate the impacts of shortages.