MINISTRY of Health officials have until the end of this month to complete a review of the Vital Essential and Necessary (VEN) list of drugs.

The Pharmaceutical Division uses a VEN list to guide the procurement of pharmaceuticals. Additionally, the World Health Organisation (WHO) recommends an essential list for rational drug use which guides the development of the VEN list.

The review of the VEN list was ordered by Health Minister Ruddy Spencer earlier this month, following the removal of user fees from services offered at public health facilitates across the island. Since the implementation of the new policy, the Health Ministry has reported a near 100 per cent increase in the demand for pharmaceutical services.

Meantime, yesterday, Dr Sheila Campbell Forrester, chief medical officer in the Ministry of Health, told the Observer that the review process involves stakeholders and the Drug and Therapeutic Committee. She said ultimately the list will be modified to reflect some of the most frequently prescribed drugs that are not on the list. Currently, there are 540 drug items on the VEN list which covers critical conditions and the most frequently encountered illnesses.

"What we are doing is looking at the conditions that have to be treated and one of the things that the Drug and Therapeutic Committee looks at is the efficacy of drugs, meaning whether they are working or if they are still not working," she said. "For example, we use to used a lot of a particular type of antibiotics some time ago, but the germ became resistant to them so we would take off that set of antibiotic from the VEN list. Where there are some newer drugs, we also would evaluate to see whether they can be included in the list."

Additionally, Dr Campbell Forrester said they would also take into consideration different types of drugs and the costs.
"We have to recognise that pharmaceuticals are indeed not cheap and we have to be prudent in their use. There are some different types (that are used to address drug resistance). There is also the issue of cost and effectiveness," she said.

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