The 2023 Impact of Inflammatory Bowel Disease in Canada: Special Populations-Children and Adolescents with IBD.

Rates of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) in Canadian children and adolescents are among the highest in the world, and the incidence is rising most rapidly in children under five years of age. These young children may have either a typical form of IBD with multi-factorial aetiology, or they may have a monogenic form. Despite the growing number of children in Canada living with this important chronic disease, there are few available medical therapies approved by Health Canada due to the omission of children from most clinical trials of newly developed biologics. As a result, off-label use of medications is common, and physicians have learned to use existing therapies more effectively. In addition, most Canadian children are treated in multidisciplinary, specialty clinics by physicians with extra training or experience in IBD, as well as specialist nurses, dietitians, mental health care providers and other allied health professionals. This specialized clinic approach has facilitated cutting edge research, led by Canadian clinicians and scientists, to understand the causes of IBD, the optimal use of therapies, and the best ways to treat children from a biopsychosocial perspective. Canadians are engaged in work to understand the monogenic causes of IBD; the interaction between genes, the environment, and the microbiome; and how to address the mental health concerns and medical needs of adolescents and young adults transitioning from paediatric to adult care.
Competing Interests: Matthew Carroll has received speaker fees from AbbVie. Anne Griffiths past holder of the Northbridge Financial Corporation Chair in Inflammatory Bowel Disease, a joint Hospital-University Chair between the University of Toronto, The Hospital for Sick Children, and the SickKids Foundation. She has received research support from AbbVie Canada. She is co-owner of copyright for the Pediatric Ulcerative Colitis Activity Index (PUCAI) and for the TUMMY-UC. She has been an advisory board member or consultant for AbbVie, Amgen, Bristol Myers Squibb, Janssen, Lilly, Merck, Pfizer, Takeda, and has received speaker fees from AbbVie, Janssen, Takeda. She is a member of the Scientific and Medical Advisory Council of Crohn’s and Colitis Canada. Ellen Kuenzig is a member of the Scientific and Medical Advisory Council of Crohn’s and Colitis Canada. David Mack is co-owner of Biotagenics Inc. Eytan Wine has received honoraria for speaking or consultancy from AbbVie, Janssen, Pfizer, Nestle Health Sciences, Mead Johnson Nutrition, and Biojamp. Gilaad Kaplan has received honoraria for speaking or consultancy from AbbVie, Janssen, Pfizer, and Takeda. He has received research support from Ferring, Janssen, AbbVie, GlaxoSmith Kline, Merck, and Shire. He has been a consultant for Gilead. He shares ownership of a patent: TREATMENT OF INFLAMMATORY DISORDERS, AUTOIMMUNE DISEASE, AND PBC. UTI Limited Partnership, assignee. Patent WO2019046959A1. PCT/CA2018/051098. 7 Sept. 2018. He is a member of the Scientific and Medical Advisory Council of Crohn’s and Colitis Canada. Charles Bernstein is supported in part by the Bingham Chair in Gastroenterology. He is on Advisory Boards for AbbVie Canada, Amgen Canada, Bristol Myers Squibb, JAMP Pharmaceuticals, Lilly Canada, Janssen Canada, Pfizer Canada, Roche Canada, Sandoz Canada, Takeda Canada. He is a Consultant for Mylan Pharmaceuticals and Takeda. He has received educational grants from AbbVie Canada, Pfizer Canada, Takeda Canada, Janssen Canada, and Bristol Myers Squibb Canada. He is on the speaker’s panel for AbbVie Canada, Janssen Canada, Pfizer Canada, and Takeda Canada. Received research funding from AbbVie Canada, Amgen Canada, Pfizer Canada, Sandoz Canada. Alain Bitton has participated in advisory boards with AbbVie, Janssen, Takeda, McKesson, BioJamp, Bristol Myers Squibb Hoffman-LaRoche, Amgen. He has received research support from AbbVie. He is on the speaker’s panel for Janssen, Takeda, AbbVie and has participated in educational activities supported by Viatris, has received educational support from Fresenius Kabi, Amgen, and Takeda. Jennifer Jones has received honoraria for speaking and consulting for AbbVie, Janssen, Pfizer, Shire, and Takeda. She is the co-chair of the Scientific and Medical Advisory Council of Crohn’s and Colitis Canada. Kate lee has received honoraria from AbbVie Corporation and Bristol Myers Squibb Canada. Sanjay Murthy has previously participated in advisory board meetings for AbbVie, Janssen, Takeda, Pfizer, Shire and Ferring and as a speaker at educational events sponsored by Janssen, AbbVie and Pfizer. Laura Targownik has received research funding from AbbVie Canada, Takeda Canada, Sandoz Canada, Amgen Canada, Gilead Canada, Roche Canada and Pfizer Canada, and has been on Advisory Boards for Janssen Canada, AbbVie Canada, Takeda Canada, Pfizer Canada, Merck Canada, Roche Canada, Sandoz Canada, Organon Canada, Fresesnius Kabi Canada, Eli Lilly Canada, and Amgen Canada. She is a member of the Scientific and Medical Advisory Council of Crohn’s and Colitis Canada. Jules Verdugo has received an AbbVie IBD scholarship. Samantha Morin has received an AbbVie IBD scholarship. Taylor Morganstein has received an AbbVie IBD scholarship and is a member of the Patient Adboard of AbbVie Canada. Eric Benchimol holds the Northbridge Financial Corporation Chair in Inflammatory Bowel Disease, a joint Hospital-University Chair between the University of Toronto, The Hospital for Sick Children, and the SickKids Foundation. He has acted as a consultant for the Dairy Farmers of Ontario and McKesson Canada for matters unrelated to medications used to treat inflammatory bowel disease. He is Past Chair of the Scientific and Medical Advisory Council of Crohn’s and Colitis Canada and Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of the Canadian Association of Gastroenterology (JCAG). None: Wael El-Matary, Colette Deslandres, Rose Geist, Tal Davis, Jake Weinstein, Justin Chan, Rabia Khan, Priscilla Matthews, Joseph Windsor, Stephanie Coward, Juan-Nicolás Peña-Sánchez, Noelle Rohatinsky, Sara Ghandeharian, James Im, Quinn Goddard, Julia Gorospe, & Lisa Banning.
(© The Author(s) 2023. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Canadian Association of Gastroenterology.)