Canada ‘poor performer’ for high medication costs for common conditions: study
VANCOUVER — Canada had the second-highest medication costs for common conditions such as high blood pressure and cholesterol in 2015 compared to nine other affluent countries with universal health-care systems, suggests a new study calling for a national drug plan to lower prices.
Lead author Steven Morgan, a professor at the University of British Columbia’s Public School of Health, said the analysis looked at the volume and daily cost of drugs in Canada, the United Kingdom, Switzerland, Sweden, Norway, the Netherlands, France, Germany, New Zealand and Australia.
The study, which was published Monday in the Canadian Medical Association Journal, analyzed data involving medications to treat six conditions — high blood pressure, high cholesterol, depression, diabetes, pain, and gastrointestinal issues such as ulcers.
Annual expenditures per capita ranged from $23 in New Zealand to $171 in Switzerland. In Canada, the cost was $158.