Other Global Documents

WHO is to launch its first essential medicines list for children
April 2007

WHO is to launch its first essential medicines list for children, says a report in the current issue of the Bulletin of the World Health Organization. The list will be made available to countries by September or October 2007 and will undergo revision as more children’s medicines become available. "A list of essential paediatric medicines is sorely needed. The WHO essential medicines list, first launched in 1977, is predominantly for adults. It includes some dosages for children, but in most cases formulations for children simply do not exist.... An estimated 10 million children die every year, many from diarrhoea, malaria, respiratory tract infection, pneumonia or HIV/AIDS. Medicines for these illnesses exist, but paediatric formulations and knowledge on how best to use them in children are often lacking. To remedy this, WHO, UNICEF and others proposed a paediatric essential medicines list at a meeting in August 2006 in Geneva." One of the challenges is the relative lack of evidence from clinical trials involving children: "The big question is how to encourage pharmaceutical companies to start costly and often challenging trials for a whole new series of children’s medicines, when the markets for these medicines are mainly in developing countries with small health budget..

Human Development Report 2001, published for the United Nations Development Programme.

This Report is about creating and using technology as a means of poverty reduction.

State of the World's Mothers - Protecting Children in War and Conflict

In commemoration of Mother’s Day, this year’s State of the World’s Mothers report focuses on the tens of millions of mothers and children whose lives have been shattered by armed conflict, bringing attention to critical protection needs in war-torn communities around the world. The report suggests actions required to support women who are raising the world’s future generations under the most horrific conditions imaginable, and to shield children from the brutal excesses of war.