Essential medicines and health products information portal

Essential medicines play an important role in improving access to medicines for the majority of the world’s population. The concept of a carefully selected list of medicines of assured quality that meet the majority of healthcare needs of a community has proved to be an effective and affordable solution for the treatment of common ailments. The concept gained ground in the 1970s and 1980s and most countries today have a national list of essential medicines based on the model list created by the World Health Organization (WHO). These periodically updated lists provide a number of advantages to health managers, policy makers, prescribers, dispensers, and others in terms of procurement, dispensing, and rational usage. Modules based on the essential medicine concept coupled with standard treatment guidelines (STGs) are an effective way of teaching rational pharmacotherapy to students of health sciences. Information about essential medicines is provided by a number of organizations; ranging from WHO, national health organizations, drug regulators, and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs). Easy access to this extensive pool is often a challenge as there is no single authoritative source.