Access to medicines in the context of "Essential medicines"

Essential medicines, as defined by the World Health Organization (WHO), are medicines that "satisfy the priority health care needs of the population". Essential medicines should be accessible to people at all times, in sufficient amounts, and be generally affordable. Since 1977, the WHO has published a model list of essential medicines, with the 2023 list for adult patients containing over 500 medicines. Since 2007, a separate list of medicines intended for child patients has been published. A new list was published in 2021, for both adults and children.

Several changes have been implemented since the 2021 edition, including that medication cost should not be grounds for exclusion criteria if it meets other selection criteria, and cost-effectiveness differences should be evaluated within therapeutic areas. The following year, antiretroviral agents, usually used in the treatment of HIV/AIDS, were included on the list of essential medicines.