The WHO Model List of Essential Drugs: latest developments.

The WHO Model List of Essential Drugs has been successful in establishing and promoting the concept of essential drugs. For more than twenty years, it has served as the gold standard for countries wishing to develop their own lists and has been adapted for use in more than 150 WHO Member States. From a public health perspective, priorities for the pharmaceutical system can be identified through the use of an essential drugs list. For example, national lists are often linked to national standard treatment guidelines used for training of health workers, and can serve as a guide for the procurement of needed drugs, for reimbursement purposes in health insurance schemes and for encouraging local pharmaceutical production.

The WHO Model List has been updated every two years since it was first published in 1977. The current Model List contains a little over 300 active ingredients and is divided into a main list and a complementary list. At the last meeting of the WHO Expert Committee on the Use of Essential Drugs held in November 1999, several recommendations were made concerning the process of updating both the methodology for selecting drugs for inclusion in the Model List and the List itself. These recommendations included linking the selection of drugs on the Model List to standard treatment guidelines developed by WHO. It was also agreed that decisions on selection of essential drugs should be based on properly-identified evidence. It was recommended that the Model List should prioritize those conditions and drugs for which equitable availability and affordability should be ensured …