Drug consumption can be expressed in cost, number of units, number of prescriptions or by the physical quantity of drugs. Building on the value of the BPPL as a global tool, tailoring the list to country and regional contexts can account for regional variations in pathogen distribution and the AMR burden. Carbapenem-resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa (CRPA) infection moving from critical to high priority in BPPL 2024 mirrors recent reports of decreases in global resistance. Gram-negative bacteria have built-in abilities to find new ways to resist treatment and can pass along genetic material that allows other bacteria to become drug-resistant as well. The updated BPPL incorporates new evidence and expert insights to guide research and development (R&D) for new antibiotics and promote international coordination to foster innovation. AMR occurs when bacteria, viruses, fungi, and parasites no longer respond to medicines, making people sicker and increasing the risk of disease spread, illness and deaths.
Strengthening access to essential medicines Millennium Development Goal 8E aims for affordable access to essential medicines.Essential medicines, as defined by WHO, are those that “satisfy… This report provides a synthesis of the outcomes of the first paediatric drug optimization exercise that was held for Malaria. The PADO for epilepsy exercise aimed to support the identification of short- and long term priorities for epilepsy medicines for the paediatric age group,…
UN Toolkit on Synthetic Drugs
- UN Commission approves WHO recommendations to place psychoactive substances under international control
- The challenge occurs when a medicinal product (same strength and route of administration) is approved and used for two or more equally important indications, and the main therapeutic use differs from one country to another.
- For example, calcium channel blockers are classified in the pharmacological group C08 (see classification of verapamil below), which avoids specifying whether the main indication is coronary heart disease or hypertension.
Opioid overdose is easily reversed with the opioid antidote naloxone and with basic life… There is growing concern around the world about drug use and road safety. In 2013, an estimated 181.8 million people aged years… Joint UNESCO, UNODC and WHO publication on education sector responses to substance use in 2017 UNESCO (the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural…
- Drug dependence treatment and care in the Republic of Serbia
- Meeting of technical experts on public health responses to cannabis use
- Universal health coverage
- Since its creation, WHO has played an important role within the UN system in addressing the world drug problem.
The first edition was published in 2013 and summarized the evidence of drug use prevention at the global level. WHO drug information provides an overview of topics of current relevance relating to drug development and regulation. The Global status report on alcohol and health and treatment of substance use disorders presents a comprehensive overview of alcohol consumption, alcohol-related… WHO recommends that essential medicines, including those that are controlled, be available to all patients at all times at a price that the individual… Access to medicines is essential for attainment of universal health coverage, which is central to achievement of the health-related Sustainable Development… More than 36 million years of healthy life loss (DALY) were attributable to drug use in 2019.
Since then there have been incredible advances in drugs for a wide range of health concerns including disease, mental health and other conditions. WHO updates guidelines on opioid dependence treatment and overdose prevention The UNGASS marked a shift in the overall drug policy discourse to highlight the public health and human rights dimensions of the world drug problem and to achieve a better balance between supply reduction and public health measures. About 296 million people aged had used psychoactive drugs in 2021 and about 39.5 million people are estimated to be affected by drug use disorders (harmful pattern of drug use or drug dependence).
Revisions of the Essential Medicines lists
Drug resistance is a major challenge to prevention and treatment efforts. Such drugs are usually only given one code and this may be a problem for users in countries where other uses are predominant. Substandard and falsified medical products This second review of the world medicines situation (first published in 1988 as The WorldDrug Situation) presents the available evidence on global production,…
“Together, we can preserve the effectiveness of life-saving antimicrobial drugs and accelerate progress toward ending these epidemics.” The new framework proposes a unified approach to prevent the emergence and spread of resistance and reduce its impact through integrated, people-centred strategies. Without urgent, coordinated action, it could lead to increased new infections and treatment failures and higher preventable morbidity and mortality, and undermine global elimination goals.
For enquiries, please send an e-mail to It presents a range of perspectives on how current challenges impact the manufacture, prescribing and access of medicines throughout the world and introduces newly-released guidance documents. Latest lists of proposed and recommended International Nonproprietary Names for Pharmaceutical Substances (INN) are also included. Over 3 million annual deaths due to alcohol and drug use, majority among men UN Commission approves WHO recommendations to place psychoactive substances under international control In resolution S-30/1, the General Assembly adopted the outcome document of the special session on the world drug problem entitled “Our joint commitment to effectively addressing and countering the world drug problem”.
Working to increase access to essentialpharmaceuticals while limiting the spread of falsified products Drug Abuse Treatment is at the heart of WHO’s global strategy on medicines. Quality-assured, safe and effective medicines, vaccines and medicaldevices are fundamental to a functioning health system. Drug dependence treatment and care in the Republic of Serbia Meeting of technical experts on public health responses to cannabis use The publication was invited by resolution 58/5 of the Commission on Narcotic Drugs entitled “Supporting the collaboration of public health and justice… WHO Drug Information provides an overview of topics relating to drug development and regulation that are of current relevance and importance, and includes the lists of proposed and recommended International Nonproprietary Names for Pharmaceutical Substances (INN).
Classification of verapamil
GDG members were selected by WHO technical staff based on their technical expertise, their role as end-users (e.g., programme managers and healthcare providers), and their representation of affected communities. In the choice of treatment, WHO recommends OAMT to be used for most patients as the intervention with strongest evidence of effectiveness for variety of outcomes. Medicinal products containing two or more active ingredients are regarded as combinations in the ATC classification system and given different ATC codes from the product with a single component (one active ingredient). This will often give several classification alternatives and the main indication is decided by the WHO International Working Group for Drug Statistics Methodology on the basis of available literature and a qualified assumption of the most prevalent indication worldwide. The challenge occurs when a medicinal product (same strength and route of administration) is approved and used for two or more equally important indications, and the main therapeutic use differs from one country to another. For example, low strength finasteride tablets used for treatment of baldness are classified under D11AX Other dermatologicals and the high strength tablets used for benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) are classified under G04C Drugs used in BPH.
WHO Drug Information – Volume 39, No. 3
Despite this transition, investment in R&D and other prevention and control strategies for CRPA remains important, given its significant burden in some regions. The fact that third-generation cephalosporin-resistant Enterobacterales are listed as a standalone item within the critical priority category emphasizes their burden and need for targeted interventions, especially in low- and middle-income countries. Changes between the 2017 and 2024 lists “Antimicrobial resistance jeopardizes our ability to effectively treat high burden infections, such as tuberculosis, leading to severe illness and increased mortality rates,” said Dr Jérôme Salomon, WHO’s Assistant Director-General for Universal Health Coverage, Communicable and Noncommunicable Diseases. These pathogens require increased attention, especially in vulnerable populations including paediatric and elderly populations, particularly in resource-limited settings. Medium priority pathogens include Group A and B Streptococci (both new to the 2024 list), Streptococcus pneumoniae, and Haemophilus influenzae, which present a high disease burden.
ATC 1st level
DDDs sometimes need to be reviewed because dosages may change over time, e.g. due to the introduction of new main indications or new research making it necessary to change the DDD. Estimating prevalence of drug use in children is not possible by using crude sales data presented in DDDs owing to the variability of children’s doses. DDDs provide a fixed unit of measurement independent of price, currencies, package size and strength enabling the researcher to assess trends in drug utilization and to perform comparisons between population groups.
The World Medicines Situation 2011- Access to controlled medicines, 3rd edition
Target 3.5 of UN Sustainable Development Goal 3 sets out a commitment by governments to strengthen the prevention and treatment of substance abuse. Since its creation, WHO has played an important role within the UN system in addressing the world drug problem.
In the guidelines on community management of opioid overdose, WHO recommends that people who are likely to witness an opioid overdose, including people who use opioids, and their family and friends should be given access to naloxone and training in its use so that they can respond to opioid overdose in an emergency. These include reduction in non-medical opioid use, mortality and morbidity (including due to opioid overdose, HIV and viral hepatitis), lowering risk of crime and incarceration, better retention in treatment, quality of life and overall wellbeing. To address the issue, WHO has published guidelines for the psychosocially assisted pharmacological treatment of opioid dependence (2009) and community management of opioid overdose (2014). While some 64 million people globally are estimated to live with drug use disorders, access to treatment remains very limited, with less than 10% having access to it. It is crucial that people with opioid dependence and those at risk of opioid overdose have access to prevention, harm reduction, treatment, and care, which are of good quality, affordable, ethical and evidence based.
In 2022, approximately 60 million people globally engaged in non-medical opioid use, including the use of drugs like heroin, morphine, codeine, fentanyl, methadone, tramadol, and other similar substances. Currently, WHO is convening a guideline development group (GDG) for update of both guidelines with an aim to improve availability and access to treatment of opioid dependence and reduce the number of deaths from opioid overdose by providing evidence-based recommendations on the psychosocially assisted pharmacological treatment and interventions on prevention and management of opioid overdose. WHO announces development of updated guidelines for the psychosocially assisted pharmacological treatment of opioid dependence and community management of opioid overdose Opioid agonist maintenance treatment (OAMT) for people with opioid dependence is proven to be safe and effective in addressing a broad range of health… Other high priority pathogens, such as antibiotic-resistant Neisseria gonorrhoeae and Enterococcus faecium, present unique public health challenges, including persistent infections and resistance to multiple antibiotics, necessitating targeted research and public health interventions. Evidence, including systematic reviews, about treatment of opioid dependence and management of opioid overdose will be presented to the GDG.
This list beganwith 208 identified medicines and has grown to include 460 differentpharmaceuticals. WHO works with partners and Member States to strengthen regulation,including post-marketing surveillance, and to eliminate substandard andfalsified medicines. They are thelargest public expenditure on health after personal costs in many low-incomecountries, and the expense is a major cause of household impoverishment anddebt. High prices, misuse of drugs and poor or unreliabledrug quality contribute to this issue. However, globalized trade can undermine regulation, and in resource-limited settings especially, incidence of substandard or falsified medicines is growing.
WHO consolidated guidelines on tuberculosis: module 4: treatment and care
Psychoactive drugs have different degrees of restriction of availability, depending on their risks to health and therapeutic usefulness, and classified according to a hierarchy of schedules at both national and international levels. This is crucial for mitigating AMR’s impact on public health and the economy. The critical priority pathogens, such as gram-negative bacteria resistant to last-resort antibiotics, and Mycobacterium tuberculosis resistant to the antibiotic rifampicin, present major global threats due to their high burden, and ability to resist treatment and spread resistance to other bacteria. Guidelines for the psychosocially assisted pharmacological treatment of opioid dependence (2009) In many ATC main groups, pharmacological groups have been assigned on the 2nd, 3rd and 4th levels allowing drugs with several therapeutic uses to be included, without specifying the main indication.
The PDD can be determined from studies of prescriptions, medical or pharmacy records, and it is important to relate the PDD to the diagnosis on which the drug is used. DDDs are normally assigned based on use in adults.For medical products approved for use in children, the dose recommendations will differ based on age and body weight. The DDDs are allocated to drugs by the WHO Collaborating Centre in Oslo, working in close association with the WHO International Working Group on Drug Statistics Methodology. This limits comparisons of drug consumption at an international level.
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