Burden of alcohol use and inclusion of alcohol use disorder medications in the essential medicine lists across 132 countries: An observational study

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.