Heredia Camila, Ul Haq Moizza Zia, Cappello Bernadette, Malik Farihah, Penazzato Martina, Moja Lorenzo, Persaud Navindra
MAP Centre for Urban Health Solutions, Li Ka Shing Institute, St. Michael's Hospital, Unity Health Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada.
Department of Health Products Policy and Standards, World Health Organization, Geneva, Switzerland.
Front Pediatr. 2025 May 2;13:1566841. doi: 10.3389/fped.2025.1566841. eCollection 2025.
Children need specialized medicine formulations for proper dosing, safety, and adherence. The World Health Organization developed a pediatric essential medicines list prioritising pediatric formulations. Given global commitment by countries to children's health, we expected national lists similarly prioritizing pediatric medicines and formulations. We assessed the extent to which national lists include medicines for children.
We used a global essential medicines database to collect data on national lists identifying pediatric lists, medicines, and formulations. Six key therapeutic areas were selected to present granular data. Data were categorized by country characteristics and income levels.
Our study found that most countries do not include pediatric formulations in their Essential Medicine Lists (EMLs), especially high-income European countries. Of the 22 countries that do, most list medicines for infections, antiretrovirals, and cancer, but gaps exist for antitrypanosomal, antileishmanial, and antihepatitis treatments. Paracetamol had the most diverse formulations. Additionally, differences were found between national and World Health Organization (WHO) EMLs, with some countries listing fewer medicines overall, though some countries included more treatments for HIV and hepatitis than the WHO Essential Medicines List for children (EMLc).
In many countries, it is unclear which medicines for children are prioritized, if any. The problem is particularly acute in high-income countries. Misalignments between national lists and the World Health Organization are common. There is little evidence that countries are adequately implementing medicines policies for youth.
儿童需要专门的药物制剂，以确保正确给药、安全和依从性。世界卫生组织制定了一份儿科基本药物清单，对儿科制剂进行了优先排序。鉴于各国对儿童健康的全球承诺，我们期望各国清单也能同样优先考虑儿科药物和制剂。我们评估了各国清单中包含儿童用药的程度。
我们使用一个全球基本药物数据库来收集有关各国清单的数据，这些清单确定了儿科清单、药物和制剂。选择了六个关键治疗领域来呈现详细数据。数据按国家特征和收入水平进行分类。
我们的研究发现，大多数国家在其基本药物清单（EML）中未纳入儿科制剂，尤其是高收入欧洲国家。在纳入儿科制剂的22个国家中，大多数列出了治疗感染、抗逆转录病毒药物和癌症的药物，但在抗锥虫病、抗利什曼病和抗肝炎治疗方面存在差距。对乙酰氨基酚的制剂种类最多。此外，各国基本药物清单与世界卫生组织（WHO）的清单之间存在差异，一些国家总体列出的药物较少，不过一些国家列出的用于治疗艾滋病毒和肝炎的药物比世界卫生组织儿童基本药物清单（EMLc）更多。
在许多国家，尚不清楚哪些儿童用药被列为优先药物，甚至是否有优先药物都不明确。这个问题在高收入国家尤为严重。各国清单与世界卫生组织之间的不一致很常见。几乎没有证据表明各国正在充分实施针对青少年的药物政策。
