More Manitoba children now eligible for cystic fibrosis drug Trikafta
The Manitoba government is offering more coverage for a cystic fibrosis medication, specifically for younger children.
Health Minister Audrey Gordon announced the news Wednesday, saying the drug Trikafta will now be available for people aged six and older.
Health Canada recently approved the drug for kids between the ages of six and 11 and then last month, the Canadian Agency for Drugs and Technologies in Health issued a revised recommendation to include all patients six and older.
Trikafta helps people with cystic fibrosis better manage their illness, by treating symptoms and also targeting the defect from specific genetic mutations.
The Canadian Cystic Fibrosis Registry says there are more than 4,300 people with the illness in Canada, and around 130 of them are in Manitoba.
"I encourage parents and caregivers of children with cystic fibrosis who may benefit from Trikafta to speak with their health-care provider," said Gordon.
She said the drug has shown it can improve the quality of life for those with cystic fibrosis, adding it gives families hope.
"Last year, Manitoba funded the drug for those 12 and older and today has continued to recognize Trikafta's extraordinary, transformative value by expanding coverage," said Kelly Glover, the president and CEO of Cystic Fibrosis Canada, in a news release. "We celebrate this news alongside our CF community in Manitoba, who has worked tirelessly for this day."
Gordon said this announcement will allow patients and their families to better afford the drug, adding the government didn't want the drug's cost to impact people's ability to take it.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Cargo ship had engine maintenance in port before Baltimore bridge collapse, officials say
The cargo ship that lost power and crashed into a bridge in Baltimore underwent 'routine engine maintenance' in port beforehand, the U.S. Coast Guard said Wednesday.
A Nigerian woman reviewed some tomato puree online. Now she faces jail
A Nigerian woman who wrote an online review of a can of tomato puree is facing imprisonment after its manufacturer accused her of making a “malicious allegation” that damaged its business.
Far North police 'dispatch' polar bear stalking schoolyard
Police and local hunters in an Ontario Far North First Nation community have “dispatched” a polar that was showing abnormal behaviour and treating the area as a hunting ground.
Donald Trump assails judge and his daughter after gag order in N.Y. hush-money criminal case
Donald Trump lashed out Wednesday at the New York judge who put him under a gag order that bars him from commenting publicly about witnesses, prosecutors, court staff and jurors in his upcoming hush-money criminal trial.
Families shocked after Niagara Falls hotel cancels bookings made year in advance of solar eclipse
After having the foresight to book their Niagara Falls hotel rooms more than a year in advance, several families planning to take in the solar eclipse next month were shocked to find out their reservations had been cancelled.
B.C. rescuers face 'high likelihood' of failure to reunite orphaned orca with pod
The race to reunite an orphaned orca calf that’s stuck in a shallow lagoon with a neighbouring pod has entered its fifth day, and a marine scientist says the clock is ticking.
Video shows police interrupting auto theft in progress outside Toronto home
New video footage obtained by CP24 shows the attempted theft of a vehicle in a North York driveway earlier this month that was ultimately interrupted by police.
Majority of Canadians believe in life after death: Angus Reid survey
A new survey from the Angus Reid Institute has found that a majority of Canadians believe in some form of life after death, a proportion that has held steady for decades.
MyPillow, owned by U.S. election denier Mike Lindell, formally evicted from Minnesota warehouse
A court ordered the eviction Wednesday of MyPillow from a suburban Minneapolis warehouse that it formerly used.