Essential medicines lists for children of WHO, India, South Africa, and EML of China: A comparative study.

Objective Comparing the essential medicine lists for children and China national essential medicine list 2012, to provide the evidence for establishing essential medicine list for children in China. Methods Search the official websites of WHO and some other countries' ministry of health to get essential medicine lists for children (EMLc) that have already established. Compare the situation of updating, the number and classification of medicines, and the dosage forms in essential medicine lists for children and China national essential medicine list 2012. Results By December 2013, the WHO, India, and South Africa have established EMLc. The list of China was for people in all ages, so the number of medicines ranked first in four lists. WHO, India, and China classified the medicines by pharmacologic action, South Africa classified by ATC classification. Except for WHO, India, South Africa, and China did not have specific medicines for neonatal care or medicines for diseases of joints. The main administration routes in these four lists were oral administration, injection, and topical application. There were medicine restrictions in lists of WHO and India, but there were no medicine restrictions in the lists of South Africa and China. Conclusion Compared with EMLs for children, the 2012 National Essential Medicine List for China is not suitable for children in China. Development of Chinese EMLc should be based on the burden of diseases for children, and should select applicable dosage forms and specifications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]