The Best Medicines Coalition (BMC) is a broad-based alliance of organizations and individuals promoting informed public policy, education, care, research and consumer-focused issues related to drug life cycle management, access to safe, effective and good quality drugs and health policy development. The members of the BMC represent millions of Canadians living with, or affected by, chronic disease or illness.

Mission
The BMC is committed to safe and timely access to the best evidenced-based medicines for all Canadians.

Goals
Through ethical partnerships between the BMC, provincial and federal governments, non-profit and private sectors and other relevant stakeholders, including disability and disease groups, our goals are to:

• Inform Canada’s public policy related to drug life cycle management to ensure that Canadians have timely access to the best medicines relative to other developed countries;
• Ensure the implementation of a pan-Canadian system that provides efficient, equitable access to the best evidence-based medicines for all Canadians;
• Partner with governments and other relevant stakeholders to develop an effective model for the meaningful and equitable inclusion and participation of consumers/patients in Canada’s drug life cycle management system and health policy development; and
• Further public awareness of relevant issues within the BMC Mission.

Structure
The BMC is comprised of representatives from a broad range of patient/consumer groups as well as individuals living with or affected by chronic disease. Together, these representatives form a Steering Committee from which an Operations Committee, including a Chair and Vice Chair, are elected annually. The Operations Committee oversees all BMC activities, including developing policy positions and representing the organization at consultations and other meetings. Members from both the Steering Committee and the Operations Committee form smaller Working Groups, which work on specific issues.

All members meet twice a year, including an in-person Annual General Meeting held in the Fall and a separate meeting, often a conference call, in the Spring. Numerous other issue-specific meetings and conference calls are held throughout the year as needed, including regular, bi-weekly Operations Committee conference calls to plan day-to-day activities and Working Group calls for specific issues.

Operations Committee 2008-2009
Linda Wilhelm, Individual Member (Chair)
Louise Binder, Canadian Treatment Action Council
Dr. Katharina Kovacs-Burns, Individual Member
Denis Morrice, Epilepsy Ontario (Treasurer)
Holly Vengroff, CARP

Member Organizations & Individual Members
Arthritis Consumer Experts - www.jointhealth.org
Asthma Society of Canada - www.asthma.ca
CARP, A New Vision of Aging for Canada - www.carp.ca
Canadian Arthritis Patient Alliance - www.arthritispatient.ca
Canadian Association of Wound Care - www.cawc.net
Canadian Breast Cancer Network - www.cbcn.ca
Canadian Cancer Action Network - www.ccanceraction.ca
Canadian Hemophilia Society - www.hemophilia.ca
Canadian Pain Society - www.canadianpainsociety.ca
Canadian Skin Patient Alliance - www.skinpatientalliance.ca
Canadian Treatment Action Council - www.ctac.ca
Cancer Advocacy Coalition of Canada - www.canceradvocacy.ca
Centre for ADD/ADHD Advocacy Canada - www.caddac.ca
Epilepsy Ontario - www.epilepsyontario.org
Gastrointestinal Society - www.badgut.org
Hepatitis C Council of British Columbia - www.bchepcouncil.ca
Kidney Cancer Canada - www.kidneycancercanada.org
Lymphoma Foundation Canada - www.lymphoma.ca
Osteoporosis Canada - www.osteoporosis.ca
Ovarian Cancer Canada - www.ovariancanada.org
Tourette Syndrome Foundation of Canada - www.tourette.ca
Lembi Buchanan, Individual Member
Dr. Katharina Kovacs Burns, Individual Member
Maureen Gatz-Faubert, Individual Member
Marjorie Harris, Individual Member
Lisa Mortell, Individual Member
Linda Wilhelm, Individual Member

BMC is a member of the International Alliance of Patients' Organizations (IAPO) - www.patientsorganizations.org

Membership
To become a member of BMC, complete and submit this form (Word document). There is no set fee, but a voluntary, annual membership contribution is requested.

Financial Support
As outlined in our Funding Statement (PDF file), the BMC receives financial support through private and public sources, as well as through member contributions. Our Terms of Reference (PDF file) outlines our Principles and Codes for Ethical Conduct and Partnerships.

A grassroots organization, all BMC members are volunteers, with two staff members supporting their work. There is no set member fee, but a voluntary, annual membership contribution is requested. In addition, some member organizations appoint a staff representative, and this expertise is viewed as in-kind support.

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