WHO Expands Essential Medicines List: Key Additions for Cancer, Diabetes & Obesity

General
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The World Health Organization (WHO) has recently updated its Essential Medicines List (EML) after reviewing 59 global submissions. This list serves as a benchmark for countries and ensuring that equitable access to vital treatments is given.

Key highlights from the update:

  • 20 new medicines have been added for adults, along with 15 for children.

  • The list now includes 523 essential adult medicines and 374 for children.

  • Significant additions address some of today’s most pressing health concerns: cancer, diabetes (including GLP-1 drugs), obesity, cystic fibrosis, psoriasis, hemophilia, and blood disorders.

This expansion reflects WHO’s commitment to improving access to life-saving therapies, especially in the face of rising non-communicable diseases (NCDs). However, while inclusion in the EML is an important step, affordability and accessibility remain ongoing challenges—particularly for low- and middle-income countries where its most required.

What are your thoughts? Will expanding the list truly help bridge treatment gaps, or do we still need stronger global mechanisms for cost control and equitable distribution?

MBH/AB

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Expanding the EML to include key drugs for conditions like cancer and diabetes is a huge step toward better global health equity. The conversation now rightfully shifts to how we can make these essential medicines truly accessible and affordable for everyone who needs them.

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The WHO’s update to the Essential Medicines List is an important step toward prioritizing medicines for today’s most serious health issues. Increasing access to medicines for cancer, diabetes, and uncommon diseases has the potential to save many lives. However, inclusion alone is not sufficient, affordability, supply networks, and fair distribution must all be addressed in order to completely close universal treatment gaps.

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Yes it is a good move by WHO. Especially beneficial fro low and middle income countries. GLP-1 Read more about this here. GLP-1 Drugs and Immunotherapies Now on WHO’s Essential Medicines List

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WHO Adds Sunscreen to Essential Medicines for People with Albinism recently also added sunscreen as well into the list making sun protection a necessity to fight against skin cancer.

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The World Health Organization’s (WHO) recent expansion of its Essential Medicines List (EML) to include key treatments for cancer, diabetes, and obesity marks a significant advancement in global healthcare policy. This biennial update, released on September 5, 2025, introduces 20 new medicines to the adult list and 15 to the children’s list, underscoring the WHO’s commitment to addressing pressing public health needs worldwide .

Cancer Treatments

Among the notable additions are PD-1/PD-L1 immune checkpoint inhibitors, such as pembrolizumab, atezolizumab, and cemiplimab. These therapies are now recommended as first-line treatments for various cancers, including metastatic cervical, colorectal, and non-small-cell lung cancers. Their inclusion reflects a growing recognition of immunotherapy’s role in cancer treatment, offering new hope for patients with limited options .

Diabetes and Obesity Medications

The EML update also incorporates glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) receptor agonists—semaglutide, tirzepatide, dulaglutide, and liraglutide—for the management of type 2 diabetes, particularly in patients with concurrent cardiovascular disease, chronic kidney disease, or obesity. Notably, these medications, including the active ingredients in Novo Nordisk’s Ozempic and Eli Lilly’s Mounjaro, are now recognized for their multifaceted benefits beyond glycemic control, encompassing weight management and cardiovascular protection .

However, the WHO has not included these drugs solely for obesity treatment in the EML, citing concerns over their high costs and limited access in low- and middle-income countries. Instead, the organization is developing separate guidelines to recommend their use for obesity treatment, emphasizing the need for a comprehensive approach to managing this chronic condition .

Implications for Global Health

The inclusion of these therapies in the EML is a strategic move to enhance their accessibility, especially in resource-constrained settings. By designating these medicines as essential, the WHO aims to stimulate generic production and facilitate procurement processes, thereby reducing costs and improving patient access .

This update also reflects a paradigm shift in the global health community’s approach to non-communicable diseases. Recognizing obesity as a chronic disease and integrating its management into national health systems is a pivotal step toward addressing the global obesity epidemic, which affects over a billion people worldwide .

Conclusion

The WHO’s expansion of the EML to include critical cancer, diabetes, and obesity treatments is a commendable effort to improve global health equity. While challenges remain, particularly concerning the affordability and accessibility of these therapies, this initiative sets a precedent for future healthcare policies aimed at ensuring that essential medicines are available to all populations, irrespective of their economic status.

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