April, 2008 – CCAN Releases a Major New Report:

"Issues of Access to Cancer Drugs in Canada"

Cancer patients in Canada deserve timely access to state of the art cancer drugs. For a person newly diagnosed with cancer it can be very challenging to try to understand the complexities of how drugs (both chemotherapy and other drugs) are approved both federally and provincially. The Canadian Cancer Action Network (CCAN) has prepared a report on the "Issues of Access to Cancer Care in Canada" in an attempt to understand the similarities, differences and inequities in our systems province to province. We will continue to examine some of the issues discussed in this report but felt strongly that it needed to be shared with all Canadians at this time. An Executive Summary and the entire report, Issues of Access to Cancer Drugs in Canada, are available as a PDF download.

Patients and caregivers also need to understand what is covered publicly by our governments and what is covered by third party insurers (private plans). The following website provides information and may help in understanding some of the complexities of the system. http://www.drugcoverage.ca

Each year The Cancer Advocacy Coalition of Canada (http://www.canceradvocacy.ca) releases a report card on the state of cancer care in Canada. The chapter on "The New Wave of Cancer Drugs" may be of some interest for those wishing an in depth look at various drugs and availability. http://www.canceradvocacy.ca/reportcard/2007/Cancer%20Drug%20Access,%20Part%20Three.pdf

The above is a snapshot in time and the information is subject to change.  The initial report was completed in October 2007 and updated April 2008.

The Canadian Cancer Action Network does not endorse the views or the accuracy of the above mentioned websites.