ArticleThe journal of medicine access
Essential medicines in Central America: Analysis of national lists, macroeconomic factors, and alignment with health priorities.
Article in The journal of medicine access. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
0 citing papers in PubMed.
No citing paper in PubMed yet.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
6 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Introduction: The World Health Organization (WHO) Model List of Essential Medicines guides countries in selecting priority drugs to ensure equitable access to effective treatments. In regions such as Central America, with similar health and socioeconomic contexts, comparing national lists reveals patterns and opportunities for regional harmonization. Methodology: A cross-sectional comparative observational study was conducted using public secondary data from the official essential medicines lists of seven Central American countries: Belize, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Panama. These lists were compared against the 2017 WHO Model List. Therapeutic classification was based on the Anatomical, Therapeutic, and Chemical Classification (ATC) system (level 2). Macroeconomic variables, including health expenditure per capita and gross domestic product (GDP) per capita, were analyzed for their relationship with list composition. Results: Panama had the most extensive NEML (570 drugs) and Nicaragua the shortest (271 drugs). Nicaragua showed the highest alignment with the WHO list, while Panama had the most exclusive drugs. A significant positive correlation was found between health expenditure per capita and NEML size ( Conclusion: Although Central American countries share regional similarities, their selection of essential medicines varies considerably. These differences reflect diverse public health priorities, institutional capacities, and economic conditions. The findings support the need for evidence-based, context-sensitive approaches and underscore the potential for regional cooperation in essential medicines policy.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.