Question Period Note: MEFLOQUINE

• Veterans Affairs Canada is committed to the health and well-being of Veterans, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and their families.
• Veterans may claim any condition related to taking mefloquine with supporting medical information from their treating physician.
• Veterans who believe they have a disability related to their military service are encouraged to contact Veterans Affairs Canada for assistance.
• Every situation is unique, and we work with Veterans on a case-by-case basis.

Mefloquine is an oral antimalarial medication which has been used by the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) since the early 1990s for overseas deployments. It is a Health Canada-approved drug, and continues to be an option for malaria prophylaxis as recommended by the Public Health Agency of Canada, and by most public health and travel medicine authorities around the world. Its use by the CAF is in decline due to the availability of newer drugs.
Starting in 2000, Veterans claimed they had suffered permanent adverse neuropsychiatric effects due to their ingestion of mefloquine. Subsequent to these claims, a class action against the Government of Canada was undertaken.
The Standing Committee on Veterans Affairs (ACVA) conducted two reviews into the past use of mefloquine by Veterans, the findings of which can be found in the following documents:
o Report 6, entitled Mental Health of Canadian Veterans: A Family Purpose, dated June 2017; and
o Report 14, entitled Effects of Mefloquine Use Among Canadian Veterans, dated June 2019.
Following the 2017 ACVA session and report, Health Canada conducted a Safety Review of mefloquine, as did the CAF Surgeon General. Health Canada and the CAF Surgeon General’s reports did not find mefloquine was consistently associated with an excess overall risk of adverse effects.
ACVA’s Report 14 of June 2019 recommended the findings of the review by the National Academies of Science, Engineering and Medicine (NASEM) into the long-term effects of anti-malarials be recognized, “…whether they strengthen or weaken the hypothesis that there is a causal link between mefloquine and certain long term neuropsychiatric effects.”
National Academies of Science, Engineering and Medicine published their findings in February 2020, and concluded there was inadequate or insufficient evidence of an association between mefloquine and persistent neuropsychiatric events.

QUICK FACTS & FIGURES
• Mefloquine use by CAF: Began in the early 1990s for overseas deployments.

• Veterans’ claims: Starting in 2000, Veterans claimed permanent adverse neuropsychiatric effects from mefloquine, leading to a class action.

Committee Review

• In 2017 and 2019, the Standing Committee on Veterans Affairs (ACVA) studied the past use of mefloquine by Veterans.

• Following ACVA’s studies, Health Canada and CAF Surgeon General conducted reviews and found no consistent association between mefloquine and excess overall risk of adverse effects.