- © 2007 Canadian Medical Association or its licensors
Internet drug sales down: Canadian Internet pharmacy sales to the United States plummeted nearly 50% in 2006, compared with 2005, reports IMS Health Canada, which provides market information on the pharmaceutical and health care industries. In 2005, sales to the US were $420 million; in 2006 they were $211 million. IMS Senior Industry Expert, Ian Therriault, says the change is due to a higher exchange rate, the new US Medicare prescription plan and negative media coverage about counterfeit and foreign drugs.
TB levels off: The global tuberculosis epidemic has levelled off for the first time since the WHO declared TB a public health emergency in 1993. The Mar. 22 Global Tuberculosis Control Report stated that almost 60% of TB cases are now detected, and of those, the vast majority are cured. Over the past decade, 26 million patients have been treated for TB. However, the disease still kills 4400 people daily or an estimated 1.6 million in 2005. An addition US$1.1 billion is needed to meet the 2007 funding requirements set by the Global Plan to Stop TB (2006-15). In related news, the World Medical Association is piloting a new online TB course to help physicians better diagnose, prevent and treat multi-drug-resistant TB (www.wma.net). — Compiled by Barbara Sibbald, CMAJ