How can Health Canada better inform practitioners and patients about drug shortages?

Health Canada’s Drug Shortages Task Force has released the results of its consultations about drug shortages. Respondents wanted improvements in four key areas: more communication and transparency, better regulatory tools, more information about the supply chain, and a better overall supply and demand system. There were 160 written submissions for the online consultation: 15% were from healthcare providers, including pharmacists and doctors, while the majority (45%) were from industry. Patient groups and healthcare providers want to know about shortages more quickly and more details about them, including reasons behind the shortage, when they started and were estimated to end, how products will be allocated, where and when they’ll be available, and alternative products.Read: Your pushback on pharmacists’ shortage solutions is not helping your patients: WattThey also want Health Canada’s drug shortages website to be improved, with more detailed and up-to-date information, including distinctions between a shortage, discontinuation and disruption, and more on medical device shortages. It should also have a more user-friendly design, and could even feature webinars and FAQs. Repeat entries about a shortage were confusing; instead, entries should be updated. Respondents also asked that communication be tailored to different audiences, such as the public, healthcare providers, patients, and caregivers. They wanted a real-time part of the site where industry could show demand and supply issues and government and group purchasing organizations could add hospital demand data. Most stakeholders said more transparency was a positive, but some worried that it would result in panic buying and lower confidence in Canada’s supply. Read: 15 ways to reduce and manage drug shortagesStakeholders also suggested that there needed to be a list of drugs that are critical to patients and vulnerable to shortages. Products on the list could be protected against shortages through safety stocks, which currently exist in Canada but aren’t meant to mitigate shortages and other initiatives.The list should include drugs that are critical to treating patients in oncology, chronic pain, opiate addiction, gender-affirming care and to support infant development. It should also include baby formula, critical medical devices that are vulnerable and non-prescription drugs. Other suggested criteria: whether a drug is life-sustaining, has a history of shortages, has limited suppliers or a small market share, and whether there are therapeutic alternatives. Respondents said shortage reporting requirements could also be improved. Streamlining regulations and making them closer to international ones would improve the Canadian market. Respondents also said better compliance monitoring and enforcement of the reporting requirements are needed, as are penalties such as fines.Read: Ottawa eyes relaxing rules for imported baby formula, as costs soar after shortageThey wanted to better see shortages coming by having more transparency across that supply chain. That includes access to better inventory-level data at different supply chain points. Incorporating historical epidemiological data and prescription patterns, adding better drug sales data through better information sharing with provinces and territories, and having better analytics could also help. Real-time information on hospitalization rates, prescription trends, and consumption rates is also information that respondents asked for.New technologies, like AI, Global Trade Item Numbers and Global Location Numbers, could also be used to track goods in real-time and to see signs of a shortage earlier. Respondents also said domestic manufacturing should be improved. Prioritizing security, not price, and contracting with multiple suppliers would help. Supporting domestic manufacturing would be part of that. Collaborating with all stakeholders, including drug pricing, formularies and pharmacy, could also help.Read: Shortage of diabetes and weight loss drug Ozempic expected in Canada: manufacturer

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