From left to right: Ron Ward (KW Chapter), Dr. Sherilyn Houle (UW School of Pharmacy), Catherine Fife (MPP), Stacey Danckert (Green Party Ontario). Photo credit: Laurel Russwurm
On Wednesday night, our Kitchener-Waterloo chapter hosted a Town Hall meeting about Pharmacare at First United Church in Waterloo. A wealth of knowledge was shared and great discussions followed with the evening’s guest speakers Dr. Sherilyn Houle from the University of Waterloo’s School of Pharmacy, MPP Catherine Fife and Stacey Danckert from the Green Party of Ontario. The successful event will hopefully lead to a follow up event in the fall so if you missed this one – stay tuned!
Pharmacare can save us a lot of money.
In 2016, Canadians spent $30 billion to fill more than 600 million prescriptions. That’s more than four times what we spent on prescriptions 20 years ago. Drug prices are skyrocketing for Canadians and more people have to choose between getting the medications they need and paying for their rent or for food.
A publicly funded, universal drug coverage program – also known as pharmacare – would provide all Canadians with access to the prescription medicines they need. People would be healthier and many would no longer have the economic burden of paying for medications out-of-pocket. Canadian employers would also benefit by not having to include expensive drug plans in employees’ benefit packages.
Right now, Canada is the only country with a public health care plan not to include prescription drug coverage. The Council of Canadians is trying to change that.
Use the tools, materials and information on this page to help convince your MP, employer, friends and family about why the federal government should implement a universal pharmacare program now.
