Response to House of Commons Standing Committee on Health Report on the Common Drug Review: Canadian Agency for Drugs and Technologies in Health

December 12, 2007

OTTAWA — The Canadian Agency for Drugs and Technologies in Health (CADTH) today expressed its appreciation for the observations and recommendations made by the House of Commons Standing Committee on Health in its report tabled this afternoon: Prescription Drugs Part I - Common Drug Review: An F/P/T Process.

“The one unifying theme throughout the committee presentations was that the demands placed on Canada’s publicly funded health system are enormous,” said John Wright, then Co-chair of the Conference of Deputy Ministers of Health (CDM), the owners of CADTH and the Common Drug Review (CDR) program, in his appearance before the committee. “Achieving the balance of optimized care, accessibility, equity, affordability and sustainability for all Canadians is every government’s goal,” continued Mr. Wright. “That is precisely why we welcome the report’s suggestions and recommendations and look forward to the federal government’s response to the report.”

“Many of the report’s findings are consistent with initiatives already underway at CADTH, but there is always room for improvement,” noted Dr. Jill Sanders, CADTH's President and Chief Executive Officer.

“Since its inception, the CDR has successfully delivered on its original mandate of conducting objective, rigorous and timely reviews of new drugs, and providing formulary listing recommendations to Canada’s public drug plans,” said Dr. Sanders. “Throughout the short history of the CDR, we have continuously demonstrated the ability to evolve to meet new challenges on behalf of Canadians.”

One significant change, for the CDR, was the appointment in October 2006 of two public members with full voting rights to its Canadian Expert Drug Advisory Committee (CEDAC). CDR will continue to set the benchmark for transparency in drug reviews by publicly releasing in the future: plain language versions of CDR recommendations; overviews of CDR reviews; and summaries of drug discussions at CEDAC meetings.

“These are just a few of the initiatives CADTH intends to carry out,” said Dr. Sanders. “In response to the Standing Committee report, we will undertake a review of the benefits and implications of the recommendations, and bring them to the CADTH Board of Directors for consideration. CADTH will also assist the federal government in preparing their response to the Standing Committee.”

The Canadian Agency for Drugs and Technologies in Health (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, Communications
Canadian Agency for Drugs and Technologies in Health
Tel: 613-226-2553, ext. 276
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. 233
E-mail: sandyf@cadth.ca
Web: www.cadth.ca