If continued research and development fulfill the promise of medical discovery, more of Canada’s future health spending will be for products and devices that treat, prevent or cure illness and disease and improve the quality of life for all Canadians.

Partners throughout the health care system in British Columbia have been participating in a chronic disease management program for asthma and providing information and support to help people effectively manage their asthma.

According to a U.K Department of Health discussion document, “an intrinsic chronic disease management equation is that increased investment in pharmaceutical care offsets hospitalization and medical procedure cost.”

More than 2 million Canadians report being diagnosed with asthma and nearly forty percent of Canadians with asthma report visiting a doctor five or more times during the past year.

A recent article in the magazine Managed Care discussed the management of drug costs for rare genetic diseases. ” Spending on ultra rare diseases does not drive pharmacy costs: “On average the number of patients with rare diseases in any one plan is simply too low …to increase the typical payment per member per month by more than a few pennies per month.”