Priority medicines for maternal and child health: a global survey of national essential medicines lists.

ABSTRACT:

Background

In April 2011, the World Health Organization (WHO) published a list of "priority medicines" for maternal and child health based on 1) the global burden of disease and 2) evidence of efficacy and safety. The objective of this study was to examine the occurrence of these priority medicines on national essential medicines lists.

Methods and findings

All essential medicines lists published since 1999 were selected from the WHO website collection. The most-up-to date list for each country was then selected, resulting in 89 unique country lists. Each list was evaluated for inclusion of medicines (chemical entity, concentration, and dosage form) on the Priority Medicines List. There was global variation in the listing of the Priority Medicines. The most frequently listed

SUBMITTER: Hill S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3365009 | biostudies-literature | 2012

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature