Landmark public health decisions by WHO on essential medicines for alcohol use disorders

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8 August 2023

The new edition of the Model List of Essential Medicines (EML), published on 26 July 2023, includes two important medicines for the treatment of alcohol use disorders in adults: acamprosate and naltrexone.

Alcohol consumption contributes to 3 million deaths each year globally as well as to the poor health and disabilities of millions of people. It is estimated that worldwide close to 300 million people live with alcohol use disorders, including about 150 million people with alcohol dependence.

Until now, no medicines for the treatment of alcohol use disorders have been included in the EML. This represents a landmark public health decision that recognizes the significant public health burden associated with alcohol use disorders and the effectiveness of acamprosate and naltrexone in their treatment.

With the high prevalence and burden of alcohol use disorders and limited treatment coverage, the inclusion of acamprosate and naltrexone will provide valuable options and choices for patients and clinicians, and could reduce costs and improve affordable access to these treatments for national health systems, thus helping more people.

The inclusion of acamprosate and naltrexone in the EML is aligned with WHO recommendations on the management of alcohol use disorders. Both medicines are recommended for treatment of alcohol dependence in the WHO Intervention Guide for mental, neurological and substance use disorders in non-specialized health settings (WHO, 2016).

This decision will further facilitate implementation of the Global Alcohol Action Plan 2022-2030, endorsed by the 75^th World Health Assembly in 2022, which sets out steps to boost the prevention and treatment capacity of health and social care systems for alcohol use disorders.