WHO updates its essential medicines list

The World Health Organization published an updated list of “essential medicines” on Tuesday, adding drugs for cancer, stroke, rheumatoid arthritis and inflammatory bowel disease among the treatments that should be seen as the standard.

The updated Essential Medicines List adds 28 medicines for adults and 23 for children and specifies new uses for 26 already-listed products, bringing the total to 460 products deemed essential for addressing key public health needs.

The updated List of Essential Diagnostics contains 46 general tests that can be used for routine patient care as well as for the detection and diagnosis of a wide array of disease conditions, and 69 tests intended for the detection, diagnosis and monitoring of specific diseases.

The list included five new cancer therapies based on improved survival rates for lung, blood and prostate cancers, and recommended two new immunotherapies — nivolumab and pembrolizumab — that had improved survival rates by 50% for advanced melanoma, which was incurable until recently.

WHO’s Essential Medicines List and List of Essential Diagnostics are core guidance documents that help countries prioritize critical health products that should be widely available and affordable throughout health systems.