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Availability of Pediatric Formulations in Public Health Care System in India: A Case Study

Vandana Roy1, Shubha Singhal2, Himanshu Tayal2

  • 1Department of Pharmacology, Maulana Azad Medical College & Associated Hospitals, New Delhi, India. roy.vandana@gmail.com.

Indian Journal of Pediatrics
|February 23, 2020
PubMed

Insights

Pediatric medicine availability in India is poor, with many essential child medicines missing from national and state lists. A dedicated pediatric essential medicines list is needed to improve access to child-specific formulations.

Area of Science:

  • Pediatric pharmacology
  • Public health
  • Health policy

Background:

  • Essential Medicines Lists (EMLs) are crucial for ensuring access to vital medications.
  • Pediatric formulations often differ from adult versions and require specific consideration.
  • India's public health sector faces challenges in providing adequate pediatric medicines.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To evaluate the availability of pediatric formulations in India's Essential Medicines Lists.
  • To assess the accessibility of essential pediatric medicines within public healthcare facilities.
  • To compare India's pediatric medicine lists with the World Health Organization's recommendations.

Main Methods:

  • Assessed inclusion of pediatric formulations in the National List of Essential Medicines (NLEM), Delhi Essential Medicine List (DEML), and Indian Academy of Pediatrics (IAP) EMLs.
  • Compared these lists with the World Health Organization's list of essential medicines for children (WHO EMLc).
  • Monitored the availability of 30 tracer pediatric medicines in a public tertiary care hospital over one year.

Main Results:

  • Significant discrepancies were found between WHO EMLc and Indian EMLs, with many pediatric medicines absent.
  • Palliative care formulations were particularly neglected across all evaluated lists.
  • Only 53% of tracer pediatric medicines were available in the public tertiary care hospital.

Conclusions:

  • India's National and State Essential Medicines Lists show limited availability of pediatric formulations.
  • The accessibility of essential pediatric medicines in public healthcare facilities is inadequate.
  • Developing a separate pediatric Essential Medicines List is recommended to enhance the availability of child-specific formulations.
Abstract

Keywords:
AvailabilityFormulationIndiaPediatricPublic

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