Jack Layton and the New Democrats will:

Establish a Canada-wide prescription drug program, phasing in drug coverage for all citizens, beginning with catastrophic drug costs, in cooperation with the provinces and territories.

Reduce the cost of prescription drugs for average Canadians and save billions of dollars from provincial health care budgets by implementing a bulk-purchasing plan, in agreement with the provinces and territories.

Introduce measures to ensure that new drugs are evaluated through evidence-based research to be more effective, before they are prescribed by doctors and paid for by Canadians.

Enforce a strict ban on all direct-to-consumer drug advertising, including closing loopholes created by the Conservatives' new consumer legislation.

Fund an independent drug therapy advisory service for doctors across Canada, to share best practices.

Make necessary drugs more affordable by implementing measures to replace high-cost patent drugs with lower-cost generic drugs. We will phase out the "ever-greening" of patent drugs, no longer allowing large pharmaceutical corporations to continually renew their patents with little or no control.