Canada - World Health Organization Regional Office for Europe

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Health systems in transition Canada
and natural health products, and for ensuring food and consumer product safety.
Data and patent protection for drug products are also administered by Health
Canada under the Food and Drugs Act and the Patented Medicines (Notice of
Compliance) Regulations under the Patent Act.
Established as a department in 2004, the PHAC performs a broad array
of public health functions including infectious disease control, surveillance,
emergency preparedness leading national immunization and vaccination
initiatives, as well as coordinating or administrating programmes for health
promotion, illness prevention and travel health. As part of its mandate, PHAC
is responsible for regionally distributed centres and laboratories including the
biosafety facilities at the National Microbiology Laboratory.
An arm’s length quasi-judicial body – the Patented Medicine Prices Review
Board (PMPRB) – regulates the factory-gate price (defined as the price at
which pharmaceutical manufacturers sell to hospitals, pharmacies and other
wholesalers) of patented drugs. Established in 1987, the PMPRB was mandated
to act as a watchdog on patented drug prices at the same time that the federal
government enhanced monopoly protection for new pharmaceuticals under the
Patent Act. It is important to note that the PMPRB does not have jurisdiction
over the prices charged by wholesalers or pharmacies, or over the professional
fees of pharmacists. Although the PMPRB has no mandate to regulate generic
drug prices, it does report annually to parliament on the price trends of all drugs
(see section 2.8.4).
In addition, the federal government plays a critical role in health research
through the funding of the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR).
In 2000, the CIHR replaced the Medical Research Council as the country’s
national health research funding agency. The CIHR is made up of 13 “virtual”
institutes that provide research funding for Aboriginal peoples’ health; ageing;
cancer; circulatory and respiratory health; gender and health; genetics; health
services and policy; human development, child and youth health; infection and
immunity; musculoskeletal health and arthritis; neurosciences, mental health
and addiction; nutrition, metabolism and diabetes; and population and public
health. While the majority of CIHR-sponsored research is investigator driven,
approximately 30% of CIHR-funded research is based on strategic objectives
set by the organization’s governing council. The federal minister of health is
responsible to parliament for CIHR and the government’s stated objective of
making Canada one of the five leading health research nations in the world.