Countries worldwide maintain Essential Medicines Lists (EML) detailing health care products and medicines deemed critical for public health sector procurement. Informed by the World Health Organization’s Model Lists, these lists cover a full range of medical conditions (e.g., HIV, TB, malaria).
Wanting to be able to track 13 critical reproductive and maternal health (RMH) commodities found in these EMLs, the International Consortium for Emergency Contraception and the FCI Program of Management Sciences for Health have launched a new tool, EML Search. Developed with funding from the UN Commission on Life-saving Commodities and the Reproductive Health Supplies Coalition, this database enables users to search either by commodity or country. Using EML Search, decision makers, stakeholders, and advocates can quickly assess specific RMH product/medicine availability or underutilization at country level. Tracked commodities include contraceptive implants, cycle beads, diaphragms, emergency contraceptive pills, female condoms, levonorgestrel intrauterine systems, magnesium sulfate, manual vacuum aspiration, mifepristone and misoprostol for medical abortion, misoprostol, oxytocin, pregnancy tests for family planning, and progesterone vaginal rings.
A webinar on Wednesday, June 8, at 10:00 AM EDT will provide an overview of this new database’s search functions and offer case studies on how it can be used at country level to influence updates to national EMLs.