Supplementary Opinion
Standing Committee on Health
Report on Strengthening the
Canadian Strategy on HIV/AIDS
Svend J. Robinson, MP
The New Democratic Party supports the recommendations of this report, but feels that it does not go far enough. We believe that the report should have also addressed the issues of cost and access to medications required by people living with HIV/AIDS, as well as the urgent need for Canada to contribute further resources to the global fight against the illness.
My New Democrat colleagues and I acknowledge and value the dedication and hard work of my fellow Committee members in holding hearings with a variety of important witnesses on the subject of the Canadian Strategy on HIV/AIDS. Like my colleagues, I want to thank all of the witnesses who appeared before us. Their evidence was of great value for its depth and insight.
In its report, the Committee has taken some important steps towards strengthening Canada’s HIV/AIDS Strategy; however, it does not go far enough. The following are the key areas in which we believe that the report must be strengthened:
| 1. | The Canadian Institutes of Health Research should consider funding public sector research on drug regime management studies, especially with regard to optimizing dosages. |
| 2. | Health Canada should work closely with consumer groups to facilitate HIV/AIDS drug approvals and to ensure surveillance follow-up. |
| 3. | The federal government should work with provinces and territories to implement the recommendations on prescription drugs relevant to HIV/AIDS contained in the Romanow Commission report, particularly by establishing a National Drug Agency, improving consistency in drug access and licensing nation-wide, developing a new medication management program for certain chronic and life-threatening illnesses, and most importantly reviewing Canadian patent policy with a view to reducing costs of prescription drugs. |
| 4. | Health Canada should work more closely with provinces and territories to ensure countrywide coverage for anti-Retroviral Treatment (ART) by health care providers. |
| 5. | Health Canada should work with provinces and territories to establish suggested standards for HIV treatment and for consistent Canada-wide access to routine pre-natal testing. |
| 6. | The federal government should increase its contribution to the global fight against HIV/AIDS and move towards the establishment of a Government of Canada International HIV/AIDS Strategy that reflects the principles and priorities set out by the affected nations through the UNAIDS program. |
| 7. | The federal government should provide leadership in ensuring that developing countries not be hindered by the interests of international pharmaceutical monopolies in their attempts to provide cheap and effective pharmaceutical drugs for their citizens living with HIV/AIDS. |
| 8. | The federal government should support a permanent solution under Article 30 of the TRIPS agreement, rather than supporting a ‘waiver’ solution to Paragraph 6 of the Doha Declaration, so as to improve the access of developing countries to generic HIV/AIDS and other drugs imported from other countries. |
These are the key areas in which we believe the report should be strengthened.