CADTH welcomes Federal Government response to Standing Committee on Health report on the Common Drug Review
April 10, 2008
OTTAWA — The Canadian Agency for Drugs and Technologies in Health (CADTH) gratefully acknowledges the Government of Canada’s support and recognition of the vital role of the Common Drug Review (CDR) in the health care system contained in its response to the House of Commons Standing Committee on Health’s report on the CDR. The Government response endorses the value of the work conducted by CDR and comments on the recommendations in the study “Prescription Drugs Part I — Common Drug Review: An F/P/T Process,” which was released December 12, 2007.
“Through both this response and their submissions to the Standing Committee, federal, provincial and territorial governments have demonstrated their firm belief that the CDR is working well. However, all parties recognize that there is always room for improvement. CADTH is committed to ongoing improvement of all its programs and appropriate and timely evaluations,” notes Dr. Jill Sanders, CADTH President and CEO.
Since its inception, the CDR has continued to set new benchmarks for transparency in Canadian drug reviews. As the federal government response noted, CADTH publishes overviews of the CDR clinical and economic review reports, a summary of the Canadian Expert Drug Advisory Committee (CEDAC) discussion regarding each drug, and plain language versions of CDR recommendations. This aligns with the Standing Committee’s recommendation and the Government’s support for increasing CDR transparency – and with an international trend toward more openness in drug reviews.
”CADTH appreciates the guidance provided in the Government of Canada’s response to the Standing Committee on Health’s report, and, likewise, is also committed to working with all participating governments and other stakeholders to ensure that the CDR continues to contribute to the health of Canadians and the Canadian healthcare system,” says Dr. Sanders.
CADTH also concurs with the Federal Government recommendation to continue to explore ways to further public involvement and it intends to review options for CDR and CADTH as a whole. This includes considering various tools for incorporating public input such as those identified by Health Canada.
With respect to the suggested approach regarding drugs for rare diseases, CADTH appreciates the federal government’s confidence in the adaptability of the CDR process to deal with such drugs in collaboration with its stakeholders.
Housed within the Canadian Agency for Drugs and Technologies in Health (CADTH) the Common Drug Review (CDR) conducts objective, rigorous reviews of drugs, and provides formulary listing recommendations to Canada’s federal, provincial and territorial public drug plans, except Quebec.
CADTH is a national body that provides Canada’s federal, provincial, and territorial health care decision makers with credible, impartial advice and evidence-based information about the effectiveness and efficiency of drugs and other health technologies. CADTH is governed by a 13-member jurisdictional Board of Directors that reports to the Conference of Federal, Provincial and Territorial Deputy Ministers of Health.
For more information contact:
John Yan, Director, Corporate Communications and Government Relations
Canadian Agency for Drugs and Technologies in Health
Tel: 613-226-2553, ext. 1276
E-mail: johny@cadth.ca
Web: www.cadth.ca
or
Sandy Fox, Senior Communications Advisor, Common Drug Review
Canadian Agency for Drugs and Technologies in Health
Tel: 613-226-2553, ext. 1233
E-mail: sandyf@cadth.ca
Web: www.cadth.ca