The Pharmaceutical Journal
Vol 268 No 7196 p597-604
4 May 2002

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WHO takes steps to make HIV treatment more accessible

The World Health Organization has issued guidelines for the treatment of HIV/AIDS in poor countries. It has also endorsed the inclusion of several antiretroviral drugs in the WHO essential medicines list.

The antiretrovirals added to the list are abacavir, didanosine, efavirenz, indinavir, lamivudine, lopinavir, nelfinavir, low-dose ritonavir, saquinavir and stavudine. Nevirapine and zidovudine, which were previously listed for prevention of mother-to-child HIV transmission, are now recommended for treatment of HIV in adults and children.

The decision to add the antiretrovirals to the list follows advice from the WHO expert committee on the use of essential medicines. Phil Wiffen, a pharmacist who leads the Cochrane pain, palliative and supportive care group in Oxford and a temporary adviser to the committee, said: "The committee received compelling evidence to support the inclusion of additional medicines on the model list of essential medicines."

The list will be linked to a model formulary that includes day-to-day prescribing and dispensing information. The British National Formulary is collaborating with the WHO on the construction of this formulary.

The WHO guidelines for scaling up antiretroviral therapy and the 2002 WHO model list of essential drugs are available on the organisation's website.