Abstract
Essential medicines are those that satisfy the priority healthcare needs of the population. The concept of essential medicines is based on the principle that the selection of essential medicines leads to better health outcomes, lower costs, and reduced economic waste. WHO published the first Model List of Essential Medicines in 1977. The concept of essential medicines was originally developed for low- and middle-income countries. However, in recent times the development and marketing of extremely expensive medicines, e.g., for HIV/AIDS, cancer, and hepatitis C, has shown that the concept is globally applicable.
The first step in the selection of essential medicines is the national regulatory process, to decide whether a medicinal product can be allowed on the market, based on an independent assessment of the efficacy, safety, and good quality of the product.
In the second step it is decided which product offers the best value for money for public procurement or reimbursement. This is based on a comparison of the efficacy, safety, and cost-effectiveness of the medicine with the best available current treatment.
This chapter describes the transparent process of evidence-based selection of essential medicines used by WHO for the Model List of Essential Medicines. It also presents practical guidance on how national committees can adapt these methods for developing or updating a national list of essential medicines, making optimal use of the independent information and evidence available from WHO. This guidance is presented for three categories of new medicines: those that are on the current WHO Model List; those that were considered and refused or deleted from the Model List; and those that have never been considered. For each category a different mechanism is needed to collect and review the necessary evidence.
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Hogerzeil, H.V. (2023). Evidence for the Selection of Essential Medicines. In: Encyclopedia of Evidence in Pharmaceutical Public Health and Health Services Research in Pharmacy. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-50247-8_133-1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-50247-8_133-1
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