The World Health Organization (WHO) maintains an essential medicine list. These are “those that satisfy the priority health care needs of the population.” Strictly speaking the WHO has only a “model list” of medicines and individual countries can choose to create a list for their own needs. The list was first created in 1977 and has been expanded over the years. The most recent model list was published in 2021 and includes 479 medicines.

Some of the medicines on that list are among the ones we talk about on this site.

Afatinib – kinase inhibitor
All-trans retinoid acid (ATRA) – retinoid
Arsenic Trioxide
Asparaginase – enzyme
Bendamustine – alkylating agent
Bleomycin – antibiotic
Bortezomib – proteasome inhibitor
Capecitabine – antimetabolite
Carboplatin – alkylating agent/platinum
Chlorambucil – alkylating agent/mustard
Cisplatin – alkylating agent/platinum
Cyclophosphamide – alkylating agent
Cytarabibe – antimetabolite
Dacarbazine – alkylating agent
Dactinomycin – antibiotic
Dasatinib – kinase inhibitor
Daunorubicin – anthracycline
Dexamethasome -steroid
Docetaxel – taxane
Doxorubicin – anthracycline
Erlotinib – kinase inhibitor
Etoposide – topoisomerase inhibitor
Fludarabine- antimetabolite
Fluorouracil – antimetabolite
Gefitinib – kinase inhibitor
Gemcitabine – antimetabolite
Hydroxycarbamide – antimetabolite
Ifosfamide – alkylating agent
Imatinib – kinase inhibitor
Irinotecan – topoisomerase inhibitor
Lenalidomide – angiogenesis inhibitor
Melphalan – alkylating agent
Mercaptopurine – antimetabolite
Methotrexate – antifolate
Nilotinib – kinase inhibitor
Nivolumab – immunotherapy agent
Oxaliplatin – platinum
Paclitaxel – taxane
Pegaspargase
Pembrolizumab – immunotherapy agent
Prednisolone – steroid
Procarbazine – antimetabolite
Rituximab – monoclonal antibody
Thalidomide – angiogenesis inhibitor
Thioguanine – antimetabolite
Trastuzumab – MAB
Vinblastine – vinca alkaloid
Vincristine – vinca alkaloid
Vinorelbine – vinca alkaloid