Arpit Parmar , Dinesh Prasad Sahu , Priyamadhaba Behera
{"title":"Burden of alcohol use and inclusion of alcohol use disorder medications in the essential medicine lists across 132 countries: An observational study","authors":"Arpit Parmar , Dinesh Prasad Sahu , Priyamadhaba Behera","doi":"10.1016/j.alcohol.2024.02.007","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Harmful use of alcohol affects the health of the population. The treatment coverage of alcohol use disorders (AUD) varies among countries. The study aimed to determine the inclusion of AUD medicines in various national Essential Medicine Lists (EMLs) and its association with alcohol consumption. It was a secondary data analysis of alcohol consumptions and AUD-related medicines in EML. Data were extracted from the WHO Global Essential Medicines database and the WHO Global Status Report on Alcohol and Health 2018. Data were extracted for 194 countries. Only 132 of 194 countries (68.0%) had EML, and among the 132 countries only 27.3% had included AUD medicines in their EML. Only 36 countries had included any of the AUD medicines in their EML. Disulfiram was included by 23 countries, while acamprosate and naltrexone were included by only four and 19 countries, respectively. Among the countries, 36.1% were from upper-middle income countries and 16.65 were from low-income countries. The inclusion of AUD medicines in national EML was neither associated with alcohol consumption parameters nor the alcohol consumption-related policy parameters. Considering the high prevalence of AUD and its complications, there is an urgent need to focus on including AUD medicines in national EMLs for making AUD treatment available and accessible across the world.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":7712,"journal":{"name":"Alcohol","volume":"122 ","pages":"Pages 111-114"},"PeriodicalIF":2.5000,"publicationDate":"2025-02-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Alcohol","FirstCategoryId":"3","ListUrlMain":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0741832924000338","RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q3","JCRName":"PHARMACOLOGY & PHARMACY","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Harmful use of alcohol affects the health of the population. The treatment coverage of alcohol use disorders (AUD) varies among countries. The study aimed to determine the inclusion of AUD medicines in various national Essential Medicine Lists (EMLs) and its association with alcohol consumption. It was a secondary data analysis of alcohol consumptions and AUD-related medicines in EML. Data were extracted from the WHO Global Essential Medicines database and the WHO Global Status Report on Alcohol and Health 2018. Data were extracted for 194 countries. Only 132 of 194 countries (68.0%) had EML, and among the 132 countries only 27.3% had included AUD medicines in their EML. Only 36 countries had included any of the AUD medicines in their EML. Disulfiram was included by 23 countries, while acamprosate and naltrexone were included by only four and 19 countries, respectively. Among the countries, 36.1% were from upper-middle income countries and 16.65 were from low-income countries. The inclusion of AUD medicines in national EML was neither associated with alcohol consumption parameters nor the alcohol consumption-related policy parameters. Considering the high prevalence of AUD and its complications, there is an urgent need to focus on including AUD medicines in national EMLs for making AUD treatment available and accessible across the world.
期刊介绍:
Alcohol is an international, peer-reviewed journal that is devoted to publishing multi-disciplinary biomedical research on all aspects of the actions or effects of alcohol on the nervous system or on other organ systems. Emphasis is given to studies into the causes and consequences of alcohol abuse and alcoholism, and biomedical aspects of diagnosis, etiology, treatment or prevention of alcohol-related health effects.
Intended for both research scientists and practicing clinicians, the journal publishes original research on the neurobiological, neurobehavioral, and pathophysiological processes associated with alcohol drinking, alcohol abuse, alcohol-seeking behavior, tolerance, dependence, withdrawal, protracted abstinence, and relapse. In addition, the journal reports studies on the effects alcohol on brain mechanisms of neuroplasticity over the life span, biological factors associated with adolescent alcohol abuse, pharmacotherapeutic strategies in the treatment of alcoholism, biological and biochemical markers of alcohol abuse and alcoholism, pathological effects of uncontrolled drinking, biomedical and molecular factors in the effects on liver, immune system, and other organ systems, and biomedical aspects of fetal alcohol spectrum disorder including mechanisms of damage, diagnosis and early detection, treatment, and prevention. Articles are published from all levels of biomedical inquiry, including the following: molecular and cellular studies of alcohol''s actions in vitro and in vivo; animal model studies of genetic, pharmacological, behavioral, developmental or pathophysiological aspects of alcohol; human studies of genetic, behavioral, cognitive, neuroimaging, or pathological aspects of alcohol drinking; clinical studies of diagnosis (including dual diagnosis), treatment, prevention, and epidemiology. The journal will publish 9 issues per year; the accepted abbreviation for Alcohol for bibliographic citation is Alcohol.