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House Hansard - 173

44th Parl. 1st Sess.
March 27, 2023 11:00AM
Context: House Hansard - 173 - Mar/27/23
Mr. Terry Dowdall (Simcoe—Grey, CPC)
  • Mar/27/23 2:02:56 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, about one in 12 Canadians has a rare disease, and sadly, most of them are children. Forty per cent of patients do not have access to appropriate drugs for their condition. On average, it takes 3.7 years and three wrong diagnoses until they even know what disease they have. When they do find out, it takes two years, on average, for public reimbursement for their medicine. That is if they are fortunate enough to have it covered or even available here in Canada. There are people working hard to make a change. This includes two passionate and tireless advocates here today from New Tecumseth, Madi and Beth Vanstone, who are working hard with the Canadian Organization for Rare Disorders to improve access to rare disease drugs. The government needs to do more to address the needs of rare disease patients, and I am happy to lend my support. Let us all get behind Canadians struggling to access basic care for their rare diseases.
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