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Ottawa to spend $1.5B on drugs for rare diseases

Darpan News Desk The Canadian Press, 22 Mar, 2023 10:15 AM

MONTREAL - The federal government says it will spend up to $1.5 billion over the next three years to improve access to drugs used to treat rare diseases.

Health Minister Jean-Yves Duclos says up to $1.4 billion of that money will be used to help provinces and territories expand coverage of new and existing drugs that treat rare diseases.

Canada's first-ever National Strategy for Drugs for Rare Diseases is here! We are committing $1.5B over 3 years to improve access and affordability to the effective drugs that those living with #RareDiseases need.
➡️ https://t.co/zVCgbdhAYH pic.twitter.com/aaExxp7zqb
— Jean-Yves Duclos (@jyduclos) March 22, 2023

The federal government says it wants to create a list of new and emerging drugs for rare diseases that would be covered in a similar way by all provincial and territorial health insurance plans.

Another $52 million will be used to gather evidence on the safety and effectiveness of these drugs as well as for research on diagnostic tools and creating a clinical trials network.

And $33 million will go to Indigenous Services Canada to support eligible First Nations and Inuit patients with rare diseases

The government says one in 12 Canadians has a rare disease, and that innovative treatments for those diseases can cost between $100,000 and $2 million per year.

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