The Government of Canada has expanded the National Anti-Drug Strategy to include prescription drug abuse, supported by more than $44M over 5 years provided through Economic Action Plan 2014.
Building Partnerships and engaging directly with stakeholders is a key component of the Government’s comprehensive strategy to address prescription drug abuse, including:
- A national symposium with sectoral leaders to discuss prescription drug abuse, co-hosted by the Minister of Health and the Canadian Centre on Substance Abuse (January 2014).
- A roundtable co-hosted by the Minister of Health and Ontario First Nations leadership to discuss solutions to prescription drug abuse (June 2014).
- Two summits on addiction recovery focused on addressing the stigma associated with substance use disorders (December 2013, January 2015).
- A Prescribing Practices Forum at McMaster University on May 15, 2015, fostering engagement with health professionals from all fields on actions to improve prescribing practices in Canada.
- A Symposium in Edmonton, Alberta on May 19, 2015 with provincial officials, doctors, pharmacists, First Nations representatives, law enforcement and addictions specialists. Discussions focused on identifying actions to address prescription drug abuse under the three action plans of the National Anti-Drug Strategy: prevention, treatment, and enforcement.
Keeping communities healthy and safe by providing Canadians with tools they need to tackle prescription drug abuse in their communities, including:
- Launched a national marketing campaign to equip parents with the information and tools needed to talk with their teenagers about the harmful effects of prescription drug abuse.
- Launched four promotional videos featuring personal stories from Canadians directly affected by prescription drug abuse. These testimonial videos aim to increase awareness of the effects and impacts of prescription drug abuse on the lives of youth and their families.
- Supporting the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police for the last two years in organizing National Prescription Drug Drop-Off Day, providing Canadians with the opportunity to safely dispose of their unused prescription drugs.
- $13.5M in funding over 5 years to enhance access to prevention and treatment capacity for prescription drug abuse within First Nations communities across Canada.
- $13 million over five years by the Government of Canada, to increase the number of annual pharmacy inspections carried out by Health Canada to help reduce the diversion of prescription drugs.
- Health Canada's Non-Insured Health Benefits (NIHB) Program for First Nations and Inuit delisted brand name OxyContin in February 2012. Furthermore, consistent with the advice of the NIHB Drugs and Therapeutics Advisory Committee (DTAC), generic long-acting oxycodone was not added to the NIHB formulary when it became available.
Supporting the health sector through targeted investments and actions to support innovative solutions and strategies to combat prescription drug abuse, including:
- Labelling changes for controlled-release opioid pain medicines to enhance their safe and appropriate use.
- An investment of $3.6 million to develop new guidelines and other training tools for physicians and other regulated healthcare professionals who prescribe and dispense drugs.
- $4.28 million for the Canadian Institute for Health Information to support a coordinated pan-Canadian approach for the monitoring and surveillance of prescription drugs, announced on May 15, 2015.
- $5 million over five years for the Canadian Institutes of Health Research to support research on new clinical and community-based interventions for preventing and treating prescription drug abuse.
- Proposing a series of enhancements to the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act (CDSA); updating Health Canada’s nearly two-decade-old rules for drug control.
- Consulting with stakeholders on draft Tamper-Resistant Properties of Drugs Regulations, which would require all controlled release oxycodone products to have tamper-resistant properties before they can be sold in Canada.
