Grant: Operating Grant

The proposed research will generate important evidence from previously uncorrelated data on how biological and social dimensions of sex and gender influence equity in prescription drug access, appropriateness, and affordability. The research team will employ advanced statistical methods to conduct five interrelated projects that draw on available population-based data: market research data, linked administrative health care data, and national surveys. They will produce an edition of the Canadian Rx Atlas that will focus on sex- and gender-related aspects of medicine use across Canada. They will study how patterns of medicine use are affected by an individual's sex, age, income, ethnicity, and place of residence. They will measure factors contributing to exposure to and outcomes from potentially risky medicine use during pregnancy. They will also quantify how different proposals for a national pharmacare program will affect women and men differently and how these differences change depending on an individual's age, income, and household composition.