Managing the growth of chronic conditions will challenge Canadian health care delivery.

Most Canadians are aware that our population is aging, but why is this cause for concern? Older adults tend to have a much higher incidence of chronic conditions, a fact that has a significant impact on our health care system. For example, between 1995 and 2001, the growth in the number of patients with three chronic conditions associated with aging: arthritis, hypertension and diabetes, exceeded the growth in the entire Canadian population for that same period. Between 1995 and 2001, Canada's population grew from 29.1 million to 30.8 million for a total population increase of 1.7 million. During this same period the number of Canadians with diabetes increased from .72 million to 1.06 million, those with arthritis/rheumatism increased from 3.04 million to 3.93 million and those with high blood pressure increased from 2.08 million to 3.26 million. The combined patient population for these three conditions alone grew by 2.4 million, an increase almost 50% greater than the entire Canadian population growth.

As this trend continues, the prevalence of chronic conditions will continue to grow. This will mean that growth in health care expenditures will continue to outpace normal inflation growth. Managing chronic conditions to avoid or reduce disability and institutionalization will be a key issue in ensuring the future financial sustainability of health care in Canada. Providing access through provincial drug plans to effective new medicines that treat these conditions will be an essential strategy for managing overall health costs associated with these chronic conditions