Canada needs pharmacare program

Why is it that Canada, with a worldrenowned medicare system, is lagging so far behind all other western democracies, except the U.S., in providing pharmacare?

Millions of Canadians daily forgo necessary drug treatments due to the lack of money to pay for expensive prescriptions. Their meagre incomes go to pay for basic survival needs such as food, shelter, heating, hydro and transportation, etc. All this on stagnant if not decreasing socialassistance benefits or low-return pension plans and meagre savings.

Government service fees and taxes keep forever snowballing to their detriment, causing more stress and leading to reduced overall health and premature death.

Why do we provide free needles, drugs and safe-injection sites for drug addictions instead of prevention and recovery strategies? Will a similar response soon be advocated in the treatment of alcoholism?

Why not free needles for the multitude of diabetics or free drugs for those suffering from treatable medical conditions instead?

Is it because they suffer and die quietly in the privacy of their homes and not on the street corners and back alleys with the accompanying mass- and social-media coverage?

We have a problem. It’s time for governments to start taking action. Sanctioning and facilitating destructive behaviours is a dead-end street.

We need to start providing prevention and treatment strategies such as pharmacare to improve the quality of life for millions of Canadians and to stop trying to stamp out fires by being a nation of enablers. Joseph Claude Bédard Comox