As the population ages, the number of Canadians living with chronic conditions is growing at a rate far greater than the rate of overall population growth. This growth has a serious impact on the financial sustainability of health care in Canada. Restricting access to new medicines covered by provincial drug plans in order to contain the growth in drug plan costs may actually contribute to greater increases in overall health care costs.

A recent report by the Institute for Clinical and Evaluative Studies (ICES) highlighted the importance of access to new therapies for people living with arthritis. According to the studies’ authors, the health care system will be debilitated by the number of individuals with arthritis requiring joint replacements unless they are given access to new treatments and other preventive therapies.

Chart Source: based on data from Canadian Community Health Survey, custom tabulations for Ward Health Strategies, August, 2004

Policy makers need to invest in preventive therapies and improve access to new medicines in order to ensure Canadians living with chronic conditions can control the progress of their disease. This can help to avoid costly and unnecessary hospitalizations while allowing these individuals to remain active members of their communities.