Comparison Between Latest National Essential Medicine List and Latest WHO Essential Medicine List

Background The World Health Organizationrsquos WHO Essential Medicines List EML provides a list of essential medicines necessary to address the most pressing public health needs worldwide. In contrast the Indian National Essential Medicines List NEML is a country-specific list designed to ensure the availability of essential medicines in India taking into account the nationrsquos unique health challenges and priorities.Objective To compare the WHO EML with the Indian NEML and identify discrepancies and alignments between the two lists focusing on the representation of critical medicines and the implications for public health policy in India.Methods Data on both lists were collected from publicly available sources the WHO EML 2023 edition and the Indian NELM 2022 edition. Quantitative methods were used to assess the overlap and differences in the number of medicines included while qualitative analysis provided insights into the rationale for inclusion and exclusion of specific drugs.Results The analysis revealed that out of the 502 medicines listed in the WHO EML 384 are included in the Indian NEML. Both the lists have greater weightage for the drugs used to treat infectious disease 33. It is followed by drugs used in cardiovascular disorders in WHO NLEM 19 and drugs used as antineoplastic and immunomodulators 19 in Indian NLEM. Indian NEML includes more than 20 medicines not found in the WHO EML. Conversely few medicines in the WHO EML are absent in the Indian NEML.Conclusion The comparison between the WHO EML and the Indian NEML reveals a significant overlap reflecting shared global health priorities notable differences highlighting the unique health challenges and local priorities in India.