Barriers to Accessing Prescription Medication in Ontario First Nations: A Preliminary Review

Link to the full report

Excerpt from Executive Summary:

The primary objective of this research is to identify the barriers to accessing prescription medications faced by First Nations communities living on reserves in Ontario. The research was done in two parts.

First, we conducted five semi-structured interviews with representatives from the Ontario Ministry of Children, Community, and Social Services; the Sandy Lake First Nation, Six Nations of the Grand River, Beausoleil First Nation, Wahta Mohawk First Nation, and the Independent First Nations (IFN).  Our results revealed the inefficiencies of the paper drug card system, geographical disparities across First Nations communities, and a lack of comprehensive support for administrators stemming from insufficient funding.  Second, we conducted a comparative review of the Non-Insured Health Benefit (NIHB) formulary and the Ontario Drug Benefit (ODB) to identify potential disparities. We identified 75 medicines included in the ODB but not the NIHB, as well as 50 medicines that are open benefits under the ODB but limited use benefits under the NIHB.

We offer four recommendations:

-conduct a more detailed subsequent report

-increase resources for on-reserve social services administrators

-reduce discrepancies between ODB and NIHB formularies

-explore options to replace the paper drug card system.

 These recommendations are based on our preliminary results and already call for additional research to better understand the complexity of barriers to access prescription drugs for First Nations communities living on reserve.