PHM-Exch> TOP 30 MEDICINES TO SAVE MOTHERS AND CHILDREN . WHO releases list of drugs that need to be available everywhere

Tue Mar 22 02:05:08 PDT 2011

From: shila kaur <kaur_shila at yahoo.com>
*21 March 2011*
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*TOP 30 MEDICINES TO SAVE MOTHERS AND CHILDREN*

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*WHO releases list of drugs that need to be available everywhere*

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*Geneva**--*The World Health Organization's (WHO) first ever list of
priority medicines for maternal and child health recommends   to countries
which medicines are most important for saving lives.

Access to appropriate medicines is vital to achieving global health
goals[i]<#12edca1b0ce270a9__edn1>.
  More than eight million children under the age of five still die every
year from causes such as pneumonia, diarrhoea and malaria.   An estimated 1
000 women die every day due to complications during pregnancy and
childbirth.   Almost all of these deaths occur in developing countries and
the vast majority can be prevented when the right medicines are available in
the right formulations and are prescribed and used correctly.

*Compiling the list*

The top 30 priority list was compiled by experts in maternal and child
health and medicines who analysed the WHO Model List of Essential Medicines
[ii] <#12edca1b0ce270a9__edn2> and the latest WHO treatment guidelines to
establish which medicines would save the most lives.

Haemorrhage, or severe bleeding, is the leading cause of maternal death. It
can kill a healthy woman within two hours of giving birth. An injection of
oxytocin immediately after delivery -can stop the bleeding - and can make
the difference between life and death.

Other medicines on the list for mothers include medicines to treat
infection, high blood pressure and sexually transmitted infections as well
as drugs to prevent preterm birth.

Every year, pneumonia kills an estimated 1.6 million children under the age
of five years, yet research has shown that treatment with simple antibiotics
could avert as many as 600 000 deaths.

Improving access to Oral Rehydration Salts (ORS) and zinc tablets would save
many of the 1.3 million children who are dying annually from diarrhoea.

Appropriate doses of the right combinations of antimalarials and
antiretrovirals are critical to reducing child deaths and suffering from
malaria and AIDS-related illness.

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*Most priority medicines are not available where needed*

Surveys[iii] <#12edca1b0ce270a9__edn3> conducted in 14 African countries
show that children's medicines are available in only 35% to 50% of public
and private centre pharmacies and drug stores.

The availability of medicines in developing countries for maternal and child
health is compromised by poor supply and distribution systems, insufficient
health facilities and staff, low investment in health and the high cost of
medicines.

"We know that basic, cheap oral rehydration salts and zinc stop children
from dying from diarrhoea, and we recommend that all countries make them
accessible.   But our surveys show that, at present, ORS is available in
less than half of pharmacies and kiosks in African countries and zinc is not
available at all in many places. This list is designed to help countries
prioritize, so that they focus on getting the most critical things available
and save the most lives," said Dr Elizabeth Mason, Director of WHO's
Department of Maternal, Newborn, Child and Adolescent Health.

Medicines appropriate for children are often not available, partly because
of a lack of awareness that children need different medicines from adults.
As a result, health workers are forced to adapt medicines intended for
adults. Tablets are crushed into imprecise portions and dissolved into
unpalatable drinks that are difficult for children to swallow and are
potentially ineffective, toxic or harmful.

WHO recommends that, wherever possible, medicines for children should be
provided in doses that are easy to measure and easy for children to take. A
newly developed artemesinin combination tablet for malaria is dissolved in
liquid and is sweet tasting, making it easier for children to swallow and
ensuring that they receive correct and effective doses.

"Medicines produced in liquid form are more expensive than tablets or
powders and are also more difficult to store, package, and transport, due to
their bulk, weight and need for refrigeration. The list we have drawn up
tells manufacturers exactly what they should be producing to meet countries
needs," said Dr Hans V. Hogerzeil, Director of WHO's Department for
Essential Medicines and Pharmaceutical Policies.

*Other life-saving medicines for children need research and development*

The top 30 priorities list also features five urgently needed medicines that
do not currently exist for the prevention and treatment of tuberculosis,
particularly in HIV-infected children, and for newborn care.

Treatment guidelines for tuberculosis in children have been developed
recently by WHO, but the recommended dosage requires a child to swallow many
tablets a day over a long period of time. Combining the essential
ingredients into one tablet results in a pill around the size of a one-euro
coin -- too large for a child to swallow.

WHO is therefore calling for more research to develop appropriate, palatable
formulations for children.

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*Notes for the editors:*

*Ghana* * **hosts the 18th Expert Committee on the Selection and Use of
Essential Medicines*

The drugs on the priority medicines list for mothers and children are all
included in the current version of the WHO Model List of Essential Medicines
which is reviewed every two years by the Expert Committee on the Selection
and Use of Essential Medicines.

This year the Committee is reviewing and considering 16 applications for the
addition of a new medicine to the model list; 7 applications for the
addition of a new formulation; and 9 applications for the deletion of a
medicine from the list.

In addition, the Committee will discuss and provide advice on a number of
policy items. These include the role of clinical pharmacologists in relation
to improving use of medicines; new strategies and directions for improving
the rational use of medicines; a draft document on how to develop a national
essential medicines list and a proposal on missing essential medicines for
the treatment of HIV in adults and children.

The 18th Expert Committee on the Selection and Use of Essential Medicines is
taking place in Accra , Ghana on 21-25 March.

Ghana adopted the WHO Essential Medicines concept in 1998 for guiding the
development of the pharmaceutical sector and improving access to medicines
for the population. Since then, the Ghana National Drugs Programme has led
the development and revisions of a National Drug Policy, treatment
guidelines, and a national Essential Medicines List.

*Related links:*

Essential medicines for children <http://www.who.int/childmedicines>

Fact sheet on maternal
mortality<http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs348/en/index.html>

Fact sheet on children: reducing
mortality<http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs178/en/index.html>

Fact sheet on pneumonia<http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs331/en/index.html>

Fact sheet on diarrhoeal
diseases<http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs330/en/index.html>

Fact sheets on pharmaceutical
products<http://www.who.int/topics/pharmaceutical_products/factsheets/en/index.html>

18th Meeting of the WHO Expert Committee on the Selection and Use of
Essential Medicines
<http://www.who.int/selection_medicines/committees/expert/18/en/index.html>

*For more information, or to arrange interviews with experts, contact:*

Deirdre DIMANCESCO

Medicines Access and Rational Use, WHO

Tel: +41 22 791 4560

Email: dimancescod at who.int

Olivia LAWE DAVIES

Maternal, Newborn, Child and Adolescent Health, WHO

Tel: +41 22 791 1209, Mobile: +41 79 475 5545

Email: lawedavieso at who.int

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[i] <#12edca1b0ce270a9__ednref1> Millennium Development Goals 4, 5 & 6:

·          Reduce child mortality;

·          Improve maternal health;

·          Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases.

[ii] <#12edca1b0ce270a9__ednref2> The WHO Model List of Essential Medicines
is a guide for the development of national and institutional essential
medicine lists that can be used as the basis for procurement and supply of
medicines, schemes that reimburse medicine costs, medicine donations and to
guide local medicine production.

[iii] <#12edca1b0ce270a9__ednref3> Jane Robertson, Gilles Forte, Jean-Marie
Trapsida & Suzanne Hill. What essential medicines for children are on the
shelf?* **Bulletin of the World Health Organization* 2009;87:231-237. doi:
10.2471/BLT.08.053645
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