Public consultation on the draft of the WHO Essential Medicines List Antibiotic Book

Elena Mozzo

WHO has launched a public call for comments on the draft of WHO Essential Medicines List Antibiotic Book.

The book provides guidance on the prescribing and use of the antibiotics on the WHO Model List of Essential Medicines for over 30 common infections in both the community and hospital setting for children and adults. The draft publication has been developed by an international expert working group of specialists in infectious diseases, antimicrobial resistance and public health. It reflects the recommendations for antibiotics made by the WHO Expert Committee on Selection and Use of Essential Medicines, including the AWaRe (Access-Watch-Reserve) classification of antibiotics.

The draft publication is accompanied by a series of infographics for individual infectious syndromes and Reserve group antibiotics, intended to be a quick-reference, user-friendly and portable resource for clinicians to carry with them while seeing patients.

We encourage individuals and groups to engage with this public consultation, that aims to ensure that the content is accurate, relevant and addresses the needs of the intended audience.

The consultation is open to healthcare providers, government officials, civil society organizations, international organizations, research institutions, and interested citizens and stakeholders from all over the world. Inputs collected during the public consultation will be considered in the revision and finalization of the publication and infographics.

All comments related to the draft WHO Essential Medicines List Antibiotic Book shall be submitted through the online platform (preferred), or via email to aware@who.int

The public consultation ends on 31 January 2022, 23:59, CET.