Health product selection refers to the process by which health programmes select and ultimately procure the ârightâ health products that will be used at different levels of the health care system. To ensure value for money, the selection of health products should be in accordance with national treatment guidelines or national diagnostics algorithms or national essential list of medicines, that are revised periodically and/or in accordance to WHO prevention and treatment guidelines.
What are essential medicines?
Essential medicines are those that satisfy the priority health-care needs of the population. Essential medicines are selected with due regard to disease prevalence and public health relevance, evidence of clinical efficacy and safety, and comparative costs and cost-effectiveness. Essential medicines are intended to be available within the context of functioning health systems at all times in adequate amounts, in the appropriate dosage forms, with assured quality and at a price the individual and the community can afford.
Source: World Health Organization
Policy considerations for the selection of essential medicines:
- “Access to essential medicines depends on four factors: rational selection, affordable prices, sustainable financing and reliable health systems.
- The selection of essential medicines, preferably linked to standard clinical guidelines, is a crucial step in ensuring access to health care and promoting rational use by health professionals and consumers.
- Official adoption of the essential medicines concept identifies priorities for government involvement in the pharmaceutical sector in general, and for medicine supply in the public sector and medicine benefits as part of health insurance in particular.
- Systematic and transparent procedures for defining the national list(s) of essential medicines, on the basis of evidence-based treatment guidelines should be established”
Source: World Health Organization (2002). The Selection of Essential Medicines.
UNDP’s approach
When UNDP acts as interim Principal Recipient of grants from the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria (The Global Fund), UNDP supports ministries of health in the selection of quality-assured medicines and diagnostic products, recommended in the current national guidelines, the World Health Organization (WHO) Standard Treatment Guidelines and/or the WHO Essential Medicines List.
Similarly, for other health products such as bednets, insecticides and condoms, the selection is based on the WHO recommendations for use and the national guidelines. In collaboration with other partners, UNDP also supports the selection of diagnostic technologies and equipment for the improvement of central and peripheral laboratories towards optimization of diagnostic services and according to the national laboratory strategy.
Countries with low and lowerâmiddle income may engage UNDPâs support through financing agreements for the procurement of anti-cancer medicines and other medicines for non-communicable diseases using state funds. This includes support to clarify clinical needs and specifications for health products, including to determine the most appropriate strengths and formulation. Financing agreements between UNDP and countries for health procurement entails consultations with the country counterparts to define detailed specifications of required health products and to select the most appropriate technologies. UNDP advises countries on product selection based on the scientific evaluation of health products done by the WHO relevant committees.
Among the United Nations agencies, WHO is also mandated to support countries in the development of evidence-based guidelines and the review of national essential medicines lists.
