who medicines strategy - libdoc.who.int - World Health Organization

MEDICINES AND PUBLIC HEALTH | 13Essential medicines save lives, reducesuffering, and improve health. But onlyif they are of good quality and safe,available, affordable, and rationallyused. The concept of essential medicinesencourages health systems to focus onaccess to those medicines that representthe best balance of quality, safety, efficacyand cost to meet priority health needswithin any given health care setting. Overthe last 25 years the concept has provento be a global necessity for countries fromthe poorest to the wealthiest.CURRENT CHALLENGES IN A CHANGING WORLDIn 2002, there were almost 6 million deaths fromHIV/AIDS, TB, and malaria. Of the over 1 millionwho died from malaria, most were children inAfrica. In addition, WHO estimates that in 2002over 2 million children in developing countriesdied from perinatal conditions and 4 million diedfrom just three diseases — pneumonia, measles,and diarrhoea. Meanwhile heart disease, stroke,cancer, and other chronic diseases are a majorcause of death in high- and middle-incomecountries, and an increasing problem in lowincomecountries. Yet for nearly all of these majorhealth problems, medicines exist that can extendlife and reduce disability.In 2001, the Commission on Macroeconomicsand Health estimated that 10.5 million lives peryear could be saved by the year 2015 — alsoboosting economic growth and development— by scaling up access to existing healthinterventions to prevent or treat infectiousdiseases, maternal and perinatal conditions,childhood diseases, and noncommunicablediseases. Most of these interventions depend onessential medicines.Figure 1: 10.5 million lives per year could besaved by ensuring access to existing medicines,vaccines, and prevention strategiesNo. of deaths in millionsABCDEA B C D EInfectious diseasesMaternal & perinatalRespiratory infectionsCancersCardiovascular diseases1998 Baseline2015 without Scaling-up2015 with Scaling-upSource: Commission on Macroeconomics andHealth, WHO, 2001