# \[e-drug\] 11 Essential Medicines Lists from South East Asia **URL:** \ **Category:** e-drug\ **Created:** [May 23, 2009, 7:48am UTC](https://talk.edrugplus.org/t/e-drug-11-essential-medicines-lists-from-south-east-asia/31936 "2009-05-23T07:48:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 2\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Wilbertb1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/ba8739/32.png) [@Wilbertb1](https://talk.edrugplus.org/u/Wilbertb1)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2009, 7:48am UTC](https://talk.edrugplus.org/t/e-drug-11-essential-medicines-lists-from-south-east-asia/31936/1 "2009-05-23T07:48:55Z")
E-DRUG: 11 Essential Medicines Lists from South East Asia --------------------------------------------------------- [http://www.searo.who.int/en/Section1243/Section1377\_14892.htm](http://www.searo.who.int/en/Section1243/Section1377_14892.htm) SEARO has just published the Essential Medicines Lists of all its 11 countries (that is 25% of the Global population!) onto it's website. The following National Essential Medicines Lists are available:      Bangladesh PDF and report      Bhutan [PDF 73 KB]      DPR Korea [PDF 73 KB]      India [PDF 191 KB]      Indonesia [PDF 1.14 MB]      Maldives [PDF 104 KB]      Myanmar [PDF 128 KB]      Nepal [PDF 142 KB]      Sri Lanka [PDF 98 KB]      Thailand [PDF 1.04 MB]      Timor-Leste [PDF 997 KB] This is a welcome service of WHO/SEARO. However, some of the EMLs have not been regularly updated (e.g., India's EML is 2003 - 6 years old). Others are bigger than the WHO Model List (Myanmar has 400 + Medicines, the WHO list has only 327). Some are simply lists and there is not always supporting evidence as the basis of the decisions. Happy downloading and analysis! Wilbert ---- Wilbert Bannenberg, E-drug (co-)moderator Email: wjb@wxs.nl Website: [http://www.essentialdrugs.org/edrug/about.php](http://www.essentialdrugs.org/edrug/about.php) E-drug archives: [http://www.essentialdrugs.org/edrug/archives.php](http://www.essentialdrugs.org/edrug/archives.php) (Un-)Subscribe: [http://list.healthnet.org/mailman/listinfo/e-drug](http://list.healthnet.org/mailman/listinfo/e-drug) ---
**Author:** ![Dr\_Leo\_Offerhaus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/57b2e6/32.png) [@Dr\_Leo\_Offerhaus](https://talk.edrugplus.org/u/Dr_Leo_Offerhaus)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2009, 1:15pm UTC](https://talk.edrugplus.org/t/e-drug-11-essential-medicines-lists-from-south-east-asia/31936/2 "2009-05-24T13:15:15Z")
E-DRUG: 11 Essential Medicines Lists from South East Asia (3) ------------------------------------------------------------ Dear colleagues, Wilbert's "list of lists" clearly shows that the term "essential" is largely misused, and that in many countries such lists are compromises drafted by or at least influenced by politicians, lobbyists and industry. As both WHO Geneva and WHO Europe have shown, objective criteria based on scientific data, availability, price and local epidemiology can and should be used, and that full transparency is required. The core of such lists is universal and can be applied over the whole world. Many lists from developing countries have in the past been screened and cleared by independent staff members or outside consultants, and many such countries have been grateful for this kind of assistance. WHO and related independent NGO's are willing to streamline the assessment, but cannot do so unless the government authorities involved ask to have their files screened. Physicians, patients, hospitals and supply officers will be very grateful. SEARO should take the initiative to introduce uniform requirements, though certainly adaptable to local circumstances. In the past I have assessed many such lists for many countries in almost all WHO regios, with a moderate to high success rate. I will no longer be able to offer such services, but I am certain that help can be obtained from one of the above-mentioned sources. Good luck and best wishes, Leo Offerhaus, the Netherlands offerhausl@euronet.nl E-mail message checked by Spyware Doctor (6.0.1.441) Database version: 6.12450 [http://www.pctools.com/uk/spyware-doctor-antivirus/](http://www.pctools.com/uk/spyware-doctor-antivirus/)