E-DRUG: WHO Medicines Strategy, 2008-2013
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[E-Drug received the following message from Dr Hans Hogerzeil, the
Director of the Essential Medicines Programme at WHO.
E-druggers will remember that we were asked to comment on the draft
strategy quite some time ago.
The WHO medicines strategy (note the absence of the adjective
'essential') has now been formally put on the website, and is available
for download at:
http://www.who.int/medicines/publications/medstrategy08_13/en/index.html
There are 30 and 10 MByte versions available; the latter is at
http://apps.who.int/medicinedocs/pdf/s16821e/s16821e_lo.pdf
WB]
Essential medicines are an important component of health systems and
primary health care. While not being an end in themselves no health
system can function without them.
Please refer, via the below-mentioned link, to the World Health
Organization's Continuity and Change - Implementing the WHO Medicines
Strategy, 2008-2013. This strategy is closely aligned with the World
Health Organization (WHO) Mid-Term Strategic Plan 2008-2013 and with the
current global strategic landscape in medicines and health systems (page
8). The document's title reflects the fact that it provides a balance
between important and unique WHO functions that we will continue to
perform and some new areas for development in response to changing
needs. A summary overview of areas of continuity and change is given in
Table 3 on pages 12-13, with an indication of priorities.
The global normative work in essential medicines carried out by WHO is
growing in importance as more and more global players are relying on it
for their work. United Nations agencies, Member States, industry and
large donors depend heavily on it to ensure the quality, safety and
efficacy of their medicines. The strategy highlights how this normative
foundation work will continue to be carried out by WHO.
In addition, the strategy outlines priority areas where more support is
needed, such as medicines supply, rational use, and country-level
interventions. Even after more than 30 years of the essential medicines
concept, there are still several places where access to essential
medicines is poor. For example, there is growing awareness of the
challenges in accessing children's medicines and medicines to treat
chronic diseases and we are working on that. However, there are other
medicines including controlled medicines for pain and drug abuse, and
therapeutic sera for rabies and snake bites, where a serious lack of
access is causing much needless suffering every day. This problem is
largely unnoticed but in recent times has a serious human rights aspect.
Over 90% of patients in Africa, when dying from HIV/AIDS, die in pain
without palliative pain treatment. Most of the disability and death
caused by untreated dog or snake bites is suffered by the rural poor and
the women and children tilling the land - exactly those whose voices are
rarely heard by the politicians. Urgent international action is needed
to halt this trend. Other emerging areas of work include good
governance for medicines and combating counterfeit medicines. These are
all issues that WHO has been advancing and which require additional
support to bring about sustainable change.
Finally, without strong tools for measurement how can progress be known?
We have been measuring the availability of medicines around the world
since 1999. We are now refining the indicators to measure access to
essential medicines to include only those that are most measurable and
meaningful for regular review (Annex 1, pages 28-29). With these changes
we will be better able to report on progress in countries.
We thank you for your continued efforts in advancing access to essential
medicines, their good quality, and their rational use by prescribers and
consumers and we are looking forward to continuing our collaboration.
http://www.who.int/medicines/publications/medstrategy08_13/en/index.html
regards
Dr Hans V. Hogerzeil
Director
Essential Medicines and Pharmaceutical Policies
World Health Organization
CH-1211 Geneva 27
Switzerland
Tel: +41-22-791-3528
Fax: +41-22-791-4730
email: hogerzeilh@who.int