Essential Medicines List and WHO Model Formulary

WHO Essential Medicine List

The Model List is a guide for the development of national and institutional essential medicine lists. It was not designed as a global standard. However, for the past 30 years the Model List has led to a global acceptance of the concept of essential medicines as a powerful means to promote health equity.

By the end of 2003, 156 Member States had official essential medicines lists, of which 99 had been updated in the previous five years. Most countries have national lists and some have provincial or state lists as well. National lists of essential medicines usually relate closely to national guidelines for clinical health care practice which are used for the training and supervision of health workers.

The 15th is the current Model List of Essential Medicines, prepared by the WHO Expert Committee in March 2007.

The 1st Model List of Medicines for Children was prepared in October 2007.

WHO Model Formulary

Since its first publication in 2002, the WHO Model Formulary has become an indispensable source of independent information on essential medicines for pharmaceutical policy-makers and prescribers worldwide. The Formulary is the authoritative guide on how to make effective use of the medicines on the WHO Model List of Essential Medicines, and the 2008 edition follows the structure and sections used in the List. For each medicine the Model Formulary provides information on use, dosage, adverse effects, contraindications and warnings, supplemented by guidance on selecting the right medicine for a range of conditions. The aim is to improve patient safety, and limit unnecessary medical spending.

Please send any comments, suggestions or amendments to modelformulary@who.int.

WHO Essential Medicines Database

The WHO Library on Essential Medicines provides information about all medicines currently listed on the WHO Model List of Essential Medicines.
For each medicine on the List, there are links to clinical evidence about efficacy and safety, WHO or other clinical guidelines, and price information. For medicines that have been deleted from the List, the section on historical changes provides the rationale for changes.
In this edition of the Library and Formulary, a new database links the List and Formulary information on a single page.
It is possible to download only the Formulary information to be used to develop a national or sub-national edition.