E-DRUG: AFRO Medicines Policy Documents
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AFRO Medicines Policy documents from selected African countries
Now on WHO website
Since 2002, the WHO support to African countries has been strengthened
through the appointments of 14 Medicines National Professional Officers,
(NPOs) who are medicines advisers in selected WHO country offices. These
NPOs are responsible for the coordination of WHO work on medicines at
country level, working closely with Ministries of Health and other
stakeholders involved in the pharmaceutical sector for the improvement
of access to medicines. This important network of country-based experts
communicate with each other by exchange of information on key issues and
sharing innovative solutions to common problems. The NPO network in
Africa has been possible thanks to the support of DFID and EC.
It was through the information exchange networking that the request to
share experiences on medicines policy issues between the various
countries arose. The available policy documents were in hard copies and
thus not easy to share within the network. To ease the sharing of
information contained in the documents, the WHO in collaboration with
various Ministries of Health, has created a digital collection on CD-ROM
of the following documents:
* Antiretroviral Therapy Guidelines,
* Assessment of Country Pharmaceutical Sector Reports,
* Drug Formularies,
* Essential Medicines Lists,
* National Drug Policies,
* National Pharmaceutical Master Plans, and
* Standard Treatment Guidelines.
The CD-ROM provides, in easily communicable digital format, a useful
information resource to assist and guide policy makers, administrators
and implementing organizations within the pharmaceutical sector in each
country, including the private sector and Nongovernmental Organizations.
The documents on the CD-ROM can be assessed through the WHO website at
http://who.int/medicines
Mrs Helen Lega Tata
Technical Officer
Department of Technical Cooperation for
Essential Drugs and Traditional Medicines
Health Technology and Pharmaceuticals
World Health Organization
Tel direct: +41 22 791 2660
Fax direct: +41 22 791 4167
E-mail: tatah@who.int
Website: http://who.int/medicines