Thanks to remarkable advances in modern health care attributable to science, engineering, and medicine, it is now possible to cure or manage illnesses that were long deemed untreatable. At the same time, however, the United States is facing the vexing challenge of a seemingly uncontrolled rise in the cost of health care. Total medical expenditures are rapidly approaching 20 percent of the gross domestic product and are crowding out other priorities of national importance. The use of increasingly expensive prescription drugs is a significant part of this problem, making the cost of biopharmaceuticals a serious national concern with broad political implications. Especially with the highly visible and very large price increases for prescription drugs that have occurred in recent years, finding a way to make prescription medicinesâ€"and health care at largeâ€"more affordable for everyone has become a socioeconomic imperative. Affordability is a complex function of factors, including not just the prices of the drugs themselves, but also the details of an individual's insurance coverage and the number of medical conditions that an individual or family confronts. Therefore, any solution to the affordability issue will require considering all of these factors together. The current high and increasing costs of prescription drugsâ€"coupled with the broader trends in overall health care costsâ€"is unsustainable to society as a whole. Making Medicines Affordable examines patient access to affordable and effective therapies, with emphasis on drug pricing, inflation in the cost of drugs, and insurance design. This report explores structural and policy factors influencing drug pricing, drug access programs, the emerging role of comparative effectiveness assessments in payment policies, changing finances of medical practice with regard to drug costs and reimbursement, and measures to prevent drug shortages and foster continued innovation in drug development. It makes recommendations for policy actions that could address drug price trends, improve patient access to affordable and effective treatments, and encourage innovations that address significant needs in health care.

Why We Need More Canadian Health Policy in the Media is a compilation of health policy commentaries published by EvidenceNetwork.ca experts in major newspapers in 2015. These articles highlight the most recent evidence on a wide range of health policy topics, including our aging population, healthcare costs and spending, mental health, pharmaceutical policy, the social determinants of health and distinctions between the Canadian and American healthcare system among other topics. This is the fourth volume in the annual series of eBooks produced by EvidenceNetwork.ca, the first being Canadian Health Policy in the News (2013), followed by Making Evidence Matter in Canadian Health Policy (2014) and Navigating the Evidence: Communicating Canadian Health Policy in the Media (2015). We acknowledge the Canadian Institutes for Health Research, Research Manitoba, the Manitoba Centre for Health Policy, the George and Fay Yee Centre for Healthcare Innovation, CIHR’s Institute of Health Services and Policy Research, and their Institute of Population and Public Health, The Canadian Frailty Network, and the University of Manitoba’s Department of Community Health Sciences and Max Rady College of Medicine whose funding supports EvidenceNetwork.ca.

The Best Pharmaceuticals for Children Act (BPCA) and the Pediatric Research Equity Act (PREA) were designed to encourage more pediatric studies of drugs used for children. The FDA asked the IOM to review aspects of pediatric studies and changes in product labeling that resulted from BPCA and PREA and their predecessor policies, as well as assess the incentives for pediatric studies of biologics and the extent to which biologics have been studied in children. The IOM committee concludes that these policies have helped provide clinicians who care for children with better information about the efficacy, safety, and appropriate prescribing of drugs. The IOM suggests that more can be done to increase knowledge about drugs used by children and thereby improve the clinical care, health, and well-being of the nation's children.

Pediatric Inflammatory Bowel Disease, Second Edition provides an essential reference with an emphasis on the unique pediatric issues of IBD. Chapters focus on complications of IBD specific to children and adolescents. Treatment recommendations are based on the latest clinical research available. The textbook also presents sections dedicated to the aspects of participation in clinical research unique to children and adolescents and the complicated yet vital process of successfully transitioning a patient from a pediatric to adult specialist. Controversies in pediatric IBD care such as the off-label use of medications are also covered. The format incorporates multiple tables, graphs, and figures to improve readability and make for an efficient reference for clinicians to use. Thoroughly revised and updated from the first edition, the volumes includes new therapies that are currently being used or tested for treatment of IBD, important areas regarding incidence and prevalence, immunization and response to vaccine administration as well as advancements in our understanding of growth and development with particular to the use of growth hormone therapy. Other new areas covered include important topics of complementary and alternative medicine use in IBD, immunization, and liver disease in IBD. Pediatric Inflammatory Bowel Disease, Second Edition is a valuable resource for pediatric gastroenterologists as well as adult gastroenterologists.

The evaluation of reproductive, maternal, newborn, and child health (RMNCH) by the Disease Control Priorities, Third Edition (DCP3) focuses on maternal conditions, childhood illness, and malnutrition. Specifically, the chapters address acute illness and undernutrition in children, principally under age 5. It also covers maternal mortality, morbidity, stillbirth, and influences to pregnancy and pre-pregnancy. Volume 3 focuses on developments since the publication of DCP2 and will also include the transition to older childhood, in particular, the overlap and commonality with the child development volume. The DCP3 evaluation of these conditions produced three key findings: 1. There is significant difficulty in measuring the burden of key conditions such as unintended pregnancy, unsafe abortion, nonsexually transmitted infections, infertility, and violence against women. 2. Investments in the continuum of care can have significant returns for improved and equitable access, health, poverty, and health systems. 3. There is a large difference in how RMNCH conditions affect different income groups; investments in RMNCH can lessen the disparity in terms of both health and financial risk.

This book is intended to communicate current best practice in pediatric clinical pharmacology and clinical pharmacy with special consideration of the prevailing circumstances and most pressing needs in developing countries. It also addresses measures that may be taken in countries with emerging economies through organizational and political adjustments to reduce unacceptable levels of morbidity and mortality among children and pregnant women with treatable diseases.

K2P 2K3 Notice: The project that is the subject of this report was undertaken with the approval of the Board of Governors of the Council of Canadian Academies (CCA). [...] Any opinions, findings, or conclusions expressed in this publication are those of the authors, the Steering Committee of the Workshop on the Opportunities and Challenges for Regenerative Medicine in Canada and do not necessarily represent the views of their organizations of affiliation or employment, or the sponsoring organization, Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada. [...] The Council of Canadian Academies iii the Council of Canadian academies Science Advice in the Public Interest The Council of Canadian Academies (CCA) is an The Canadian Academy of Engineering (CAE) independent, not-for-profit organization that supports The CAE is the national institution through which Canada's independent, science-based, authoritative expert assessments most distinguished and expe [...] My personal thanks also to the other members of the Steering Committee who donated their time and Recognition of the importance and potential of regenerative expertise to plan the workshop and ensure this summary medicine led to the workshop summarized in this report. [...] The role of the report review monitor is to ensure that the Steering Committee give full and fair consideration to the submissions of the report reviewers.