What this section is for
These notes sit between the catalogue and the dossier. Each one takes a product family, a dosage form or a regulatory step and sets out what a buyer actually has to decide: which presentation to register, which monograph to nominate, which test the authority will ask for, and which detail in the artwork causes problems at the border.
What the published guidance does to a specification
An essential-medicines specification is not a product name. The WHO Model List states the presentation — strength, dosage form and often the unit count — and national lists frequently add or omit entries. Two consequences follow: a supplier who quotes a molecule without confirming the presentation is not yet answering the tender, and a market that carries two near-identical strengths of the same oral liquid has created a dispensing risk. WHO Model List of Essential Medicines
Themes covered in these notes
- Antipyretics and NSAIDs — why paracetamol is not positioned as an anti-inflammatory, why the Model List warns against carrying both 120 mg/5 mL and 125 mg/5 mL oral liquids, and the age limits that belong on the label.
- Antibacterials — how the WHO AWaRe classification shapes who may buy a product and how it may be promoted, and why stewardship is written into tenders.
- Antimalarials — why the treatment is a three-day combination course and severe malaria a parenteral-plus-oral protocol, so both halves have to be sourced.
- Ophthalmics — container, preservative and pack-separation decisions, including the WHO safety notice on ophthalmic chlorhexidine.
- Diabetes care — cold-chain and presentation issues around insulin and the oral agents listed on the Model List.
How to use these notes
Take the specification points into your tender document, and the documentation list into the supplier questionnaire. If a note raises a question about a specific product, send us the line item and the destination market and we will confirm availability and the documentation route.
Questions buyers ask
Are these notes product promotions?
No. They explain how published guidance affects specifications, labelling and documentation. Therapeutic decisions belong with the prescriber and the national treatment guideline.
Can the notes be used in a tender document?
The specification points can be used as a checklist. Any figure you intend to enforce contractually should be confirmed in writing with us first, so the commitment matches what the batch record will show.
Product catalogue · Therapeutic ranges · Request a quotation
Reference information only. Published guidance is quoted for professional and regulatory-context purposes and is not medical advice or a prescribing recommendation.