Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As a man with a passion for pharmaceuticals, I am happy the Member has raised this question here today. The department is not at this time pursuing a catastrophic drug program here in the Northwest Territories. Rather, we’re working on the development of a pharmaceutical strategy which is building on the work that has been done over the past few years, including the report the Member mentioned that was done by Alberta Blue Cross – Pharmaceutical Strategy Options for the Government of the Northwest Territories – as well as ongoing work that is being done by the Program Review Office in the Department of Finance.
The pharmaceutical strategy is going to adhere to a number of principles moving forward and those principles are access, safety, effectiveness and appropriateness for use, as well as system sustainability.
Among other things, part of this pharmaceutical strategy is actually going to include a program to cover catastrophic coverage or provide catastrophic drug coverage, a program to cover expensive drugs for rare diseases, exactly what the Member is talking about, as well as moving to an NWT-specific formulary. So we’re not moving forward with a specific catastrophic drug program. We’re moving forward with a pharmaceutical strategy that will include the types of things the Member is talking about today. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.