National List of Essential Medicines.

• Recently, the National List of Essential Medicines (NLEM), 2022, was released, with 384 drugs in it across 27 categories.
• While 34 new drugs are on the list, 26 drugs from the earlier NLEM were dropped.

About National List of Essential Medicines (NLEM)

• The National List of Essential Medicines (NLEM) is a list released by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.

• The medicines listed in the NLEM are sold below a price ceiling fixed by the National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA).

• In India, it was framed on the lines of the Essential Medicines List (EML)released by the WHO.
• It is a dynamic document and is revised on a regular basis considering the changing public health priorities as well as advancement in pharmaceutical knowledge.
• It was first formulated in 1996 and was revised thrice in 2003, 2011 and 2015, before 2022.
• They have to be licensed by the DCGI, have proven efficacy, a safety profile based on scientific evidence and are cost effective.

Purpose: 

• Guide safe and effective treatment of priority disease conditions of a population.
• Promote the rational use of medicines.
• Optimize the available health resources of a country. It can also be a guiding document for:

• State governments to prepare their list of essential medicines
• Procurement and supply of medicines in the public sector.