[e-farmacos] Publicacion del WHO Model Formulary

["Hogerzeil, Hans" <hogerzeilh@who.int>]

E-farmacos: Publicacion del WHO Model Formulary
------------------------------------------------------

[A continuacion incorporamos la nota de prensa donde
se informa sobre la reciente publicacions del WHO
Model Formulary, un buen paso adelante de la OMS para
la promocion del uso racional de medicamentos. Pronto
estara a punto una version electronica, AF]


WHO RELEASES FIRST GLOBAL REFERENCE GUIDE ON SAFE AND
EFFECTIVE USE OF ESSENTIAL MEDICINES

Guide Promotes Consumer Rights and Patient Safety

Geneva - In its efforts to promote safe and
cost-effective use of medicines, the World Health
Organization (WHO) today releases the first
edition of the WHO Model Formulary.  The formulary is
the first ever publication to give comprehensive
information on all 325 medicines contained in the WHO
Model List of Essential Drugs.  It presents
information on the recommended use, dosage, adverse
effects, contra-indications and warnings of these
medicines.  Correct use of this tool will improve
patient safety and limit superfluous medical 
spending.

Bad prescribing habits are very common in all
countries of the world. They lead to ineffective and
unsafe treatment, exacerbation or prolongation of
illness and harm to the patient.  In addition,
inappropriate treatment increases the costs to the
patient, the insurance system or the government.

The new formulary is primarily intended as a model for
national governments and institutions, to be used as a
basis for developing their own national formularies.
It is particularly relevant for developing countries,
where commercial and promotional materials are often
the only available source of drug information to
health workers, prescribers and patients.  The WHO
formulary may also be useful for individual 
prescribers - and for this reason it is available at
reduced cost for developing countries.

"Unfortunately, developing countries do not always
have access to unbiased information about medicines,"
explains Dr Hans Hogerzeil, from the Essential Drugs
and Medicines Policy department at WHO.   "The 
formulary aims to address that problem and provide a
service based solely on scientific evidence."

It is estimated that only two-thirds of developing
country populations have some form of access to
essential medicines.  For those countries, 
pharmaceuticals can represent as much as 40% of the
health care budget.
Because of its considerable impact on the quality of
care and the cost of treatment, the selection of
essential medicines and their appropriate use
constitute the most effective approach to improving
equitable access to health care.

This principle also applies to industrialized
countries, where questions of medical insurance
coverage are always important concerns for the 
public and central to policy debates.

The WHO Model List of Essential Medicines, recently
updated to include 12 essential antiretroviral
medicines for the treatment of HIV/AIDS, is
compiled to focus pharmaceutical efforts on priority
conditions and quality medicines that are the most
cost-effective and safe, and as affordable as
possible. For instance, the vast majority of medicines
contained in the WHO Model List are well-known and
well-established pharmaceuticals which are off patent
and available from many sources.

To make access to information as wide as possible, the
WHO Model Formulary will be available on the internet
at the following address:
www.who.int/medicines. 

A CD-ROM version is in preparation.

Contact :
Hans Hogerzeil, World Health Organization, 
tel +41 79 249 35 09
hogerzeilh@who.int
or
Daniela Bagozzi, Communications Officer, WHO; 
tel. + 41 22 791 45 44/ +41 79 475 54 90.

[NOTA: Mensaje sin acentos ni caracteres especiales.]
























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