About Access What does access mean? Access is the ability for Canadian patients to have access to the medicines their health care professionals prescribe. Access is about providing Canadians in need with proper health coverage. The Rx&D international report on access to medicines highlighted gaps in access across Canada. Depending on where you live, you may or may not be able to get the medication you need under public drug plans. Many seniors and low-income Canadians rely on public drug plans to get the medicines they need to live longer and have better quality of life. Unfortunately the public drug plans don’t always cover the cost of these much needed medications. In fact, when the Rx&D International Report on Access to Medicines compared access to drugs in Canada with 28 other countries, Canada was near the bottom of the list, behind Mexico, the Czech Republic and the Republic of Korea. Canada shouldn’t be near the bottom, and Canadian patients shouldn’t be last on the list either. Together, we can make it better.