national list of essential medicines sri lanka - World Health ...

in the appropriate dosage forms, with assured quality, and at a price theindividual and the country can afford.Reflecting on the process of developing the 4 th revision (2009) of theList of Essential Medicine for Sri Lanka:The committee tried its best to follow the WHO recommended process inselecting the essential medicines. WHO Model List was used as atemplate, but it was modified according to the needs of the Sri Lankanpopulation. Needs of Sri Lankan population (patients) were determinedusing the statistics provided by the Annual Health Bulletin and therecommendations provided by academics and clinicians representingvarious professional organizations and health care system in Sri Lanka(See List of resource personnel).It should be acknowledged that the SL – EML has some differences fromthe WHO Model list. For example having an additional section on“Medicines acting on the ear, nose and oropharynx) and inclusion ofmedicines removed from the WHO – ML such as theophyllines, andhaving more medicines than that listed in the WHO – ML.This was done to make it acceptable to all the health care professionals inour country and after taking into consideration the local experience ofexperts in the relevant field and resource limitations.In this revision, for the first time the committee in particular focussedheavily on paediatric medicines to ensure access and availability.vii