Federal Health Minister Ginette Petitpas Taylor didn't deliver any news or make any announcement during her visit fto Health Sciences North on July 25.
Instead, the minister shared some of the work she said Health Canada has been doing to support better access to pediatric treatments.
Health Canada has already begun engaging more with the pediatric community to determine where gaps are occurring, she said, and how to modernize the regulatory system in order to encourage more manufacturers to bring more products to Canada and to expand pediatric indications for existing medications.
"Our children that we're treating aren't mini adults, these are small human beings and we have to treat them as such," said Petitpas Taylor.
"The medications that are available, oftentimes when they have to go through the regulatory process for approval it does take time. Today we're announcing that we have made some regulatory changes to make sure that the drug approval process for children will be done more quickly. We want to make sure that we get the treatment to the children when they need them and we want to make sure that these drugs are on the market so that they will be able to treat the children in need."
In 2018, Health Canada approved 17 new drugs with pediatric indications, including drugs for cancers, rare diseases and bleeding disorders.
The challenges associated with approving new drugs in a timely fashion, is that generally children's diseases are more rare in nature, and the development of these drugs requires a lengthy process of research, testing and clinical trials.
That process is being looked at by Health Canada and as part of ongoing work, new measures were announced in Budget 2019 that the minister said will modernize regulations for clinical trials to find ways of testing new treatments on children in a safe manner.
"We certainly recognize that many children suffer from rare diseases and as a result, when it comes to rare diseases we recognize that much research needs to be done for drug approval," said Petitpas Taylor.
"Sometimes the group of population is just so small that that's why it takes so much time to get the approval done. Through these regulatory changes we'll be able to make sure that work is done in smaller populations but still they'll always be very safe and we'll be able to make sure that patients get the drugs in a timely fashion."
Health Canada is working to bring more treatments for children and youth to Canada, the minister said. Part of that work involves outreach with experts in the field so the government understands the barriers patients face in accessing treatment; the challenges manufacturers face in bringing new treatments to Canada, and; new and emerging treatments for children and youth, particularly in areas such as rare diseases and cancer drugs where few other treatment options are available.
Health Canada, Petitpas Taylro said, has reduced administrative barriers, which will ultimately lead to more authorized treatments for children.
"Developing and authorizing medical treatments for children goes far beyond resizing adult drugs and medical devices. It requires a customized approach," said Petitpas Taylor.
The minister is sticking around in Sudbury. On Friday morning, she is taking part in a round table discussion at St. Gabriel Villa in Chelmsford on seniors' issues.
Sudbury.com was told by Nickel Belt MP Marc Serré's office that media and the public are not invited to take part in that round table discussion.
