The document discusses the importance of the World Health Organization's (WHO) list of essential medicines and India's National List of Essential Medicines (NLEM), emphasizing their roles in improving healthcare access and outcomes. It outlines the criteria for selecting these medicines, their benefits, limitations, and the need for regular updates to adapt to changing health needs. Additionally, it highlights challenges in implementation and future directions for integrating the essential medicines list with digital health systems.

1. TheEssentialMedicines
List
TheEssentialMedicinesListplaysacrucialrolein
improvingglobalhealthcare.
Discoverthecriteriaforselection,benefits,limitations,and
futureofthelist.
Dr.ShivankanKakkar,MD

2. Introduction
WHOEML
TheWorldHealthOrganization'slist
ofessentialmedicinesis
ablueprintforcountriestoprovide
theirpopulationswithaccess
tosafe,effective,andaffordable
medication.
NLEMIndia
TheNationalListofEssential
Medicines(NLEM)isalistof
medicinesthatareconsidered
essentialfortheIndianhealth
systemandarerecommendedfor
procurementandsupplyat

3. EssentialMedicines
TheNLEMdefinesessentialmedicinesas:
"thosemedicinesthatsatisfythePRIORITYhealthcare
needsofalargenumberofpeopleinIndia
&
whichshouldbeavailableatalltimesinadequateamounts
andappropriatedosageformsatapricethatindividuals
orthecommunitycanafford."

4. CriteriaforSelection
Publichealthrelevance
Theselectionismadeinawaythat
themedicineshaveasignificant
impactonpublichealthoutcomes.
Evidence-based
Theselectionprocessisbasedon
scientificevidence,efficacy,safety,
andcost-effectiveness.

5. NLEMof2022
ThelistisupdatedeverytwoyearsbytheMinistryof
HealthandFamilyWelfare.
TheNLEMincludesmedicinesforawiderangeof
conditions,includinginfectiousdiseases,chronic
diseases,andmentalhealthconditions.
ThemedicinesontheNLEMareavailableataffordable
pricesingovernmenthospitalsandprimaryhealth
centers.

6. DifferencesbetweentheWHOEML2021
andNLEM2022
Scope:TheWHOEMLisagloballistofessentialmedicines,whiletheNLEMis
specifictoIndia.
Criteriaforinclusion:TheWHOEMLincludesmedicinesthatareconsideredto
beessentialforthehealthofthepopulation,whiletheNLEMincludes
medicinesthatareconsideredtobeessentialforthehealthoftheIndian
population.
Numberofmedicines:TheWHOEMLhas479medicines,whiletheNLEMhas
384medicines.
HomeAssignment:Comparethetwolistsandidentifythemedicinesthatare
includedinbothlists,themedicinesthatareincludedinonlyonelist,andthe
medicinesthatareexcludedfrombothlists.

7. NeedforEML
Theneedforessentialmedicinesarisesfromthefactthatthereisawidegap
betweentheavailabilityandaffordabilityofmedicinesinIndia.
Manypeopledonothaveaccesstoqualitymedicinesdueto:
highprices,
1.
irrationaluse,
2.
poorquality,
3.
lackofavailability.
4.

8. BenefitsoftheEssentialMedicinesList
1 HealthOutcomes
Improvingaccessto
essentialmedicines
leadstobetter
healthoutcomes
andimproved
qualityoflife.
2 EconomicBenefits
Essentialmedicines
reducethe
economicburdenon
patients,families,
andthehealthcare
system.
3 AccesstoQuality
Medicines
theEssential
MedicinesList
enablesaccessto
safe,effective,and
affordable
medicineswith
provenquality
standards.
4 RationalUseofDrugs
TheEssentialMedicinesListpromoteseffectivedrugtherapyandprevents
themisuseofmedicinesbyprescribersandpatients.

9. LimitationsoftheEssentialMedicines
List
1 NotComprehensive
TheEssentialMedicinesList
onlycoversessential
medicinesinthepublicsector
andmaynotincludemedicines
forrarediseases.
2
SlowtoChange
Updatingthelistcanbeslow,
whichmayresultinnewand
innovativemedicinesnotbeing
included.
3 ImplementationDifficulties
Implementingthelistcanbe
challenginginsomecountries
duetolackofresources,
infrastructure,andpoliticalwill.

10. ImpactoftheEssentialMedicinesListon
GlobalHealth
ImprovedHealth
Outcomes
Accesstoessential
medicineshas
improvedprimary
healthcaredeliveryand
helpedpreventand
treatmanycommon
diseases.
IncreasedAccessto
Medicines
Thelisthasimproved
accesstoquality,safe,
andeffectivemedicines
worldwide.
CostSavings
Essentialmedicines
havehelpedreduce
healthcarecosts,
makingitmore
affordableforpatients,
governments,and
healthinsurance
companies.

11. ChallengesinImplementingthe
EssentialMedicinesList
1 Procurement
Ensuringthereliablesupplyanddistributionofessentialmedicines
canbechallenging,especiallyinlow-resourcesettings.
2 Education
Healthworkersandpatientsneedtrainingonhowtouseessential
medicines,especiallywhentreatingcomplexdiseases.
3 Regulation
Lackofregulationandqualityassuranceinsomecountriesmay
resultinsubstandardorcounterfeitmedicinesbeingsold.

12. FutureoftheEssentialMedicinesList
TargetedApproach
Thelistmaybecome
moretargeted
towardsneglected
diseases,rare
diseases,and
medicinesforchildren.
Researchand
Development
Researchand
developmentwill
continuetoinnovate
andimprove
medicines,makingit
necessarytorevise
thelistregularly.
IntegrationwithDigital
Health
TheEssential
MedicinesListcould
beintegratedwith
digitalhealthsystems
totrackmedicineuse
andsupplychain
management.

13. GroupTask
Group1:Preparealistofessentialemergencymedicines
foraprimaryhealthcenter.
Group2:Createalistofessentialmedicinesfor
cardiovasculartreatmentsforaprimaryhealthcenter.
Group3:Createanessentialmedicineslistfortreating
endocrinedisordersatatertiarycarecenter.
Group4:Preparealistofessentialmedicinesfortreating
nervoussystemdisordersatatertiarycarecenter.
Group5:Preparealistofessentialantibioticsforaprimary
carecenter.