For World Contraception Day, this group is calling for a commitment to pharmacare in N.L.

Advocates for publicly funded pharmaceuticals leveragedWorld Contraception Day this week to urgethe Newfoundland and Labradorgovernment to commit to signing up for national pharmacare funding.

The Canada Pharmacare Act, known as Bill C-64, is in the final stages of being passed, and may receive royal assent this fall.

For provinces that choose to implement the policy, those with the applicable provincial health-care cardswill havefree access to birth control and diabetes medications and devices.

Yvonne Earle, a member oftheAvalon chapter of the Council of Canadians,says that with the rising cost of living, pharmacare would benefit residents of Newfoundland and Labrador.

"Many people are saying that they can no longer afford their medications, or it's creating a real crunch that's often not talked about," Earle told CBC News.

She said pharmacare would alleviate some pressure on the health-care system, benefiting the province in the long run: if people can afford to take their medications, it limits the need for additional medical intervention or emergency room visits.

St John's Morning Show9:25National pharmacare funding would mean free birth control medication and devices for NLers

Some local groups are calling on the province to commit to signing up for national pharmacare funding, which would mean free birth control medication and devices for Newfoundlanders and Labradorians. Yvonne Earle is with the province's Avalon chapter of the Council of Canadians, and they're one of the organizations involved in today's rally at the Confederation Building, urging Premier Andrew Furey to sign up for national pharmacare funding. She joined us in studio to talk about it.

She referenced a study conducted in Ontario where one group of people were given their medications for a year and took them as prescribed, while another group of people were left on their own.

"The cost savings to the system in Ontario was over $1,200 per person, and that included visits to emergency admissions to hospital and other kinds of medical interventions that were needed," Earle said.

British Columbia offers free birth control. Earle said when Access Canada projected this forward for health systems in Canada, hundreds of millions of dollars would be saved nationally.

"We would save $287,000,000 in pregnancy-related costs in 2024 dollars, and for diabetes, we would save $869,000,000 in 2024 dollars. That's a lot of money that can be saved from the health system and redirected elsewhere in the health system," she said.

No commitment yet from N.L.

The council is delivering letters to Premier Andrew Furey and Health Minister John Hogan from Newfoundlanders and Labradorians that ask for a public commitment to national pharmacare funding.

Ideally, she said the premier will make an announcement regarding the commitment before Sunday, during whatgovernment has dubbed "Wellbeing Week."

"This very definitely is one of the social determinants of health: whether you can afford your medications and to take them as they are prescribed," she said.

But Newfoundland and Labrador won't commit to the policy until government officials receive more details about funding.

In a statement from the Department of Health on Friday, media relations managerTina Coffeysaid the province supports the federal government's investment and the bill aligns with recommendations from Health Accord N.L.

But until details are hammered out, the province isn't saying it'll sign on.

"We will engage with the federal government to obtain additional details on proposed pharmacare coverage of drugs for diabetes and contraceptives, including funding expectations, and will assess once more is known," Coffey wrote.

"The provincial government looks forward to working with the federal government toon improving access to medications for Newfoundlanders and Labradorians."

Birth control and diabetes medication are the focus for now, but the council has a bigger goal. They rallied atConfederation Building on Thursday morning to push for further committments from the province to pay for medicine from the public purse.

"People have spoken to me about the fact, well, why is it only birth control and diabetes? That's because the current [federal] government limited the legislation to that," Earle said.

"The hope is that if we get pharmacare in, there will be an expansion as we go along to other drugs and medications."

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