Coalition demands fair access to new depression drugs

Some Canadians have drug insurance benefits through their employers, but those who rely on a public system often are not reimbursed for the newest, most innovative medications to treat depression. This means low-income Canadians, veterans, the unemployed, seniors and the self-employed may not get the treatment that works best for them.

Many kinds of depression, many kinds of drugs

“There’s 227 different combinations of symptoms for depression. It’s very complex,” says Ann Marie MacDonald, director of the Mood Disorders Association of Ontario. “It’s so important that each and every individual has the right to choose what’s right for them.”

Three of Canada’s major groups advocating for mental wellness have formed a coalition to ask for changes to the public drug plan system.

One in eight Canadians affected

Canadians for Equitable Access to Depression Medication is looking to raise awareness about the complexity of depression and its effects on Canadians’ overall health. They seek to highlight the inequity between Canadians who have access to new medications and those who don’t. And they want to make better depression care a priority among policy-makers.

The matter is complicated by the fact that each of Canada’s ten provinces and three territories run their own public health systems and they vary substantially.

Almost one in eight adult Canadians suffer at some point in their lives from a mood disorder like depression and bipolar disorder.