DANBURY, Conn.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The high level of disparity between the World Health Organization’s Model Essential Medicines List (EML) and the EMLs of nine pharmerging countries was highlighted in remarks by Murray Aitken, executive director of the IMS Institute for Healthcare Informatics, at the WHO’s Expert Committee session on April 20. At the Geneva meeting, Aitken presented findings from Understanding the Role and Use of Essential Medicines Lists, an IMS Institute report that reviewed and compared national lists of medicines in Brazil, China, India, Indonesia, Kenya, Malawi, Philippines, South Africa and Tanzania.
Among the key findings identified in the IMS Institute report:
- Wide variance found between the WHO and country lists of essential medicines. A cross-country comparison revealed a significant difference between drugs listed on the WHO Model EML and those included on country EMLs – from 65 percent of drugs on the WHO list appearing on the Philippines list and 59 percent in Indonesia, to 31 percent in China and 30 percent in Malawi. Similar levels of variation were observed among drugs used to treat key non-communicable conditions such as diabetes, respiratory diseases, cancer and cardiovascular diseases; communicable diseases including malaria, HIV and tuberculosis; and vaccines. An increased focus on non-communicable disease treatments is reflected in the doubling of the number of those medicines on the WHO list since 1977 – a trend echoed at the country EML level.
- New-generation cancer drugs not on the current WHO list are included on some country EMLs. While newer anti-cancer agents such as trastuzumab, imatinib and rituximab are on the EMLs of some countries reviewed, they are not on the WHO’s list. All 30 agents included on the current WHO list are traditional anti-cancer agents. An additional 22 cancer medicines, including new-generation patented agents, will be evaluated by the WHO for inclusion in the 2015 list.
- Local barriers limiting access to essential medicines persist. While progress has been made, impediments to full implementation of country EMLs and universal availability of drugs on those lists remain significant. Factors affecting implementation include pricing policies, reimbursement scenarios, government initiatives supporting implementation, and patent and licensing efforts. Healthcare infrastructure is a concern in many of the countries evaluated, with drug shortages, a lack of qualified staff and limited capacity in public hospitals among the contributing factors.
Said Aitken, “The concept of ‘essential medicines’ introduced by the World Health Organization in 1977 has become a critically important element of national health system policies and practices for countries around the world. As the movement toward universal health coverage strengthens, so does the role of essential medicines as a key part of bringing to all people the affordable, accessible health services they need.”
Every two years the WHO convenes the Expert Committee on the Selection and Use of Essential Medicines to apply an evidence-based approach to identify, evaluate and select medicines to be added or removed from the WHO’s list. Drugs are selected based on public health relevance, evidence of efficacy and safety, and comparative cost effectiveness. Although the WHO regularly publishes updated lists of essential medicines, the responsibility of determining which medicines are designated as essential is at the discretion of adopting nations based on their requirements.
The full IMS Institute report is available at www.theimsinstitute.org. Research for this study was undertaken by the IMS Institute with funding provided by the International Federation of Pharmaceutical Manufacturers and Associations. All research, interpretation and the development of the report was conducted independently by the IMS Institute.
About the IMS Institute for Healthcare Informatics
The IMS Institute for Healthcare Informatics provides key policy setters and decision makers in the global health sector with unique and transformational insights into healthcare dynamics derived from granular analysis of information. It is a research-driven entity with a worldwide reach that collaborates with external healthcare experts from across academia and the public and private sectors to objectively apply IMS Health’s proprietary global information and analytical assets. More information about the IMS Institute can be found at: http://www.theimsinstitute.org.
About IMS Health
IMS Health (NYSE:IMS) is a leading global information and technology services company providing clients in the healthcare industry with comprehensive solutions to measure and improve their performance. End-to-end proprietary applications and configurable solutions connect 10+ petabytes of complex healthcare data through the IMS One™ cloud-based master data management platform, providing comprehensive insights into diseases, treatments, costs and outcomes. The company’s 15,000 employees blend global consistency and local market knowledge across 100 countries to help clients run their operations more efficiently. Customers include pharmaceutical, consumer health and medical device manufacturers and distributors, providers, payers, government agencies, policymakers, researchers and the financial community.
As a global leader in protecting individual patient privacy, IMS Health uses anonymous healthcare data to deliver critical, real-world disease and treatment insights. These insights help biotech and pharmaceutical companies, medical researchers, government agencies, payers and other healthcare stakeholders to identify unmet treatment needs and understand the effectiveness and value of pharmaceutical products in improving overall health outcomes. Additional information is available at www.imshealth.com.