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A national strategy for Canada

Canada Needs a Medication Appropriateness Strategy

Now is the time to act. In April 2021, Health Canada announced the formation of the Canadian Drug Agency Transition Office: a first step toward the creation of a national body with the capacity to improve access, affordability and appropriateness of prescription medications for all Canadians. While issues of drug access and affordability are often discussed, the Canadian Medication Appropriateness and Deprescribing Network is calling on policymakers to make appropriate use of medications a priority. A national medication appropriateness strategy must be embedded in the structure of a future Canadian Drug Agency.

Our Goal

Create a national strategy that supports the development, application, and evaluation of policies that foster appropriate medication use by patients and prescribers.

WHY CANADA NEEDS A STRATEGY

Around the globe, concern is mounting about the rate of harm caused by inappropriate medication use, and Canada is no exception. Those populations most vulnerable to medication harms include women, older adults, and people with low incomes. We should also be concerned about the impact of inappropriate medication use in other vulnerable populations, such as Indigenous peoples, and people of other racial and ethnic minorities.

National experts from medical, academic, community and political spheres are worried. They know that too many Canadian seniors take too many medications. What's more, they know an alarming proportion of older Canadians take potentially inappropriate medications—a medication becomes inappropriate when its potential to cause harm outweighs its potential for benefit. Seniors suffer numerous consequences for taking these medications: falls, fractures, hospitalizations and premature loss of independence are only a few examples. The costs are astronomical: collectively we spend an estimated 1.4 billion dollars each year on treating adverse effects caused by potentially harmful medications in older Canadians (Morgan et al. 2016).

OUR PROPOSED STRATEGY

First and foremost, Canada’s medication appropriateness strategy must be informed by real-world research reflecting patients’ lived experiences. At its centre, our strategy proposes a national coordinating organization to implement provincial, evidence-based interventions. This allows both for interventions to be tailored to the needs of each individual province, and also facilitates the rigorous evaluation of outcomes at the patient, system and economic level. An agile strategy would continuously collect, review and learn from real world data.


 
 

Our large-scale medication appropriateness initiatives

Learn more about the following large-scale programs developed in collaboration with provincial governments:


We need your help! 

We are looking for new partners from all Canadian provinces and territories who want to collaborate on the implementation of large- and small-scale medication appropriateness initiatives. Let’s work together to create intersectional change and eliminate harm from inappropriate medication use.

Contact us to start the discussion!