World Health Organization's List of Essential Medicines

The WHO Model List of Essential Medicines is a list, proposed by the World Health Organization (WHO), of the most effective and safe medicines needed to meet the most important needs in a health system. The list is frequently used by countries to help develop their own local lists of essential medicine. The list is divided into core items and complementary items. The core items are deemed to be the most cost effective options for key health problems and are usable with little additional health care resources. The complementary items frequently require additional infrastructure such as specially trained health care providers or diagnostic equipment.

The first list was published in 1977 and included 208 medications. The WHO updates the list every two years. The 14th list was published in 2005 and contained 306 medications. In 2015 the 19th edition of the list was published and contains about 410 medications.

As of 2016, more than 155 countries have created national lists of essential medicines based on the World Health Organizations model list. This includes countries in both the developed and developing world. The national lists contain between 334 and 580 medications. The following list is based on the 19th edition of the adult list. A separate list for children up to 12 years of age, known as the "WHO Model List of Essential Medicines for Children", was created in 2007 and is in its 5th edition.

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