Lead Department: Health Canada
Start Date of the Horizontal Initiative: 2003–2004
End Date of the Horizontal Initiative: 2007-2009
Total Federal Funding Allocation: $190 M over five years
provided in Budget 2003
Description
The Therapeutics Access Strategy (TAS) is a comprehensive Health Canada
initiative aimed at helping Canadians maintain and improve their health by
ensuring that human drugs and other therapeutic products are safe, of high
quality, therapeutically effective, appropriately used, and accessible in a
timely and cost-effective fashion. The Patented Medicine Prices
Review Board is also participating in this initiative.
TAS aims to respond to a number of federal government commitments.
The 2002 Speech from the Throne committed to "speed up the regulatory process
for drug approvals to ensure that Canadians have faster access to the safe drugs
they need, creating a better climate for research on drugs." In
2000 and 2003, First Ministers agreed to work together on approaches to ensure
Canadians continue to have access to new, appropriate, and cost-effective
drugs. Budget 2003 provided $190 M over five years "to improve the
timeliness of Health Canada's regulatory processes with respect to human drugs
in order to create a better climate for research in pharmaceuticals while
preserving the principle that safety is of paramount concern."
Shared Outcome(s)
The Strategy has three objectives:
(1) transforming regulatory performance by improving the timeliness and
transparency of the review process for therapeutic products while maintaining
Health Canada's high standards for safety;
(2) enhancing post-market surveillance by exercising greater vigilance around
safety and therapeutic effectiveness issues once products reach the market; and
(3) improving access to appropriate and cost-effective drug therapies for
Canadians in ways which contribute to improved health and the sustainability of
the health care system.
Governance Structures
Overall accountability for this Strategy rests with the Executive
Co-ordinator, Pharmaceuticals Management Strategies/TAS Secretariat and the
Assistant Deputy Ministers of the Health Products and Food Branch (HPFB) and
Health Policy Branch. A TAS Steering Committee comprised of senior
management representatives from relevant Health Canada programs has been
established to ensure appropriate coordination and guidance.
Partners
Health Canada
Patented Medicine Prices Review Board
Contact
Abby Hoffman
Executive Co-ordinator,
Pharmaceuticals Management Strateges,
TAS Secretariat
Health Canada
(613) 946-1791
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