Supa vs Big Pharma
- Details
- Published on Sunday, 29 November -0001 16:00
- Written by editor
Last week the Liberals announced that Canada will finally get a pharmacare plan, so we won’t have to choose between feeding our families or buying the medicine we need to stay healthy. But now Big Pharma, made up of giants like Pfizer and Merck, is trying use this as an opportunity to get a plan that prioritizes their profits over one that benefits all of us. [1]
And they are acting fast. Less than a day after the budget dropped, Finance Minister Morneau walked back on pharmacare promises, talking instead about a patchwork plan that will leave people out. [2]
This is dangerous - and nurses and health care experts are already raising the alarm. [3] But if we want to stop Big Pharma from sabotaging universal pharmacare, it will take thousands of us showing our support for a program that benefits everyday people, not corporations.
Will you sign the letter to Dr. Eric Hoskins, head of the national advisory council on pharmacare, in support of a universal pharmacare program that Canadians urgently need?
On Monday we asked if we should campaign for universal pharmacare, and an incredible 17,367 of you said YES! Now we need to make sure our voices carry all the way to Parliament. [4]
The first step is for thousands of us to sign this letter, showing the new pharmacare advisory council that everyday people (like you and me!) won’t stand for giant corporations getting between us and the care and medicine we need when we’re sick.
SIGN NOW
Universal pharmacare will save lives. Right now nearly 1 million Canadians have to choose between food on the table and urgently needed medicine. [5]
We’re the only country in the world where universal health care doesn’t include pharmacare, and as a result we pay soaring prices for lifesaving meds in order to line the pockets of billionaire drug corporations. [6]
That isn’t an accident. The pharma lobby have sabotaged pharmacare for decades to protect their massive profits. And they’re already launching ads disguised as impartial reporting in the Financial Post and blasting them across social media. [7]
Their objective is clear: they’re trying to divide Canadians on pharmacare and force the new council to develop a drug plan that works for profits instead of people.
But together we can stop them and get the system we deserve. The head of the advisory council has a record as an advocate for universal pharmacare. If we can show him that tens of thousands of everyday people are ready to mobilize on pharmacare, he’ll have the ammunition he needs to stand up to corporate interests and deliver a plan for implementing universal coverage.
SIGN NOW
The road ahead might seem long, but this moment is critical: the early stages where the national conversation around pharmacare really takes shape and people pick sides. We cannot let the lobby poison the well and sabotage the best shot we’ve got at a national drug plan.
A nationwide, grassroots movement is building right now. 91% of Canadians support pharmacare [8] - by signing this letter, we have the chance to raise our voices together and stop Big Pharma in its tracks.
Sign the letter: https://act.leadnow.ca/pharmacare/
Thanks for all you do,
Tim, Logan and Brittany on behalf of the entire Leadnow team
Sources:
[1] https://www.budget.gc.ca/2018/docs/plan/chap-04-en.html
[2] https://www.thestar.com/opinion/editorials/2018/03/01/bill-morneau-is-wrong-to-rule-out-universal-pharmacare.html
[3] http://canadianlabour.ca/news/news-archive/joint-letter-prime-minister-trudeau-finance-minister-bill-morneaus-comment
[4] There were 17,367 yes votes and 640 no votes. Two themes stood out in the no votes: concern about the health impacts of using pharmaceuticals and a preference that Leadnow focus on other campaigns, especially the environment and democracy.
[5] http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/canadians-give-up-food-heat-to-afford-prescriptions-study-says-1.4533476
[6] https://www.cachc.ca/pharmacare/
[7] https://www.canadianhealthpolicy.com/blog/chpi-leads-evidence-based-opposition-to-government-run-monopoly-pharmacare.html
[8] https://canadians.org/blog/new-council-canadians-poll-shows-91-want-liberals-implement-pharmacare
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