National List of Essential Medicines 2022 India

Essential Drug List India 2022

Union Health Ministry is taking various steps under the vision of Hon. Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi Ji towards Sabko Dawai, Sasti Dawai. In this direction, the National List of Essential Medicines (NLEM) plays an important role in ensuring the accessibility of affordable quality medicines at all levels of healthcare. This will give a boost to cost-effective, quality medicines and contribute towards a reduction in Out of Pocket Expenditure on healthcare for the citizens.”

Union Minister for Health and Family Welfare as he launched National Lists of Essential Medicines (NLEM) 2022. 384 drugs have been included in this list with the addition of 34 drugs, while 26 from the previous list have been dropped. The medicines have been categorized into 27 therapeutic categories.

National List of Essential Medicines 2022 India

The following criteria are followed for inclusion in NLEM:

1.  be useful in diseases which is a public health problem in India
2. be licensed/ approved Drugs Controller General (India) (DCGI)
3. have proven efficacy and safety profile based on scientific evidence
4. be comparatively cost-effective
5. be aligned with the current treatment guidelines
6. recommended under the National Health Programs of India. (e.g. Ivermectin part of Accelerated Plan for Elimination of  Lymphatic Filariasis 2018).
7. when more than one medicine are available from the same therapeutic class, one prototype/ medically best suited medicine of that class to be included.
8. price of total treatment is considered and not the unit price of a medicine
9. fixed dose combinations are usually not included
10. in vaccines as and when are included in Universal Immunization Program (e.g. Rotavirus vaccine).

List of Medicines Added to NLEM 2022

1. Amikacin
2. Bedaquiline
3. Bendamustine Hydrochloride
4. Buprenorphine
5. Buprenorphine (A) + Naloxone (B)
6. Cefuroxime
7. Dabigatran
8. Daclatasvir
9. Darunavir (A) + Ritonavir (B)
10. Delamanid
11. Dolutegravir
12. Fludrocortisone
13. Insulin Glargine
14. Irinotecan HCI Trihydrate
15. Itraconazole
16. Ivermectin
17. Lamivudine
18. Latanoprost
19. Lenalidomide
20. Leuprolide acetate
21. Meropenem
22. Montelukast
23. Mupirocin
24. Nicotine replacement therapy (NRT)
25. Ormeloxifene (Centchroman)
26. Phenoxymethyl penicillin
27. Procaine Benzyl penicillin
28. Rotavirus vaccine
29. Tenecteplase
30. Teneligliptin
31. Tenofovir (A) + Lamivudine (B) + Dolutegravir (C)
32. Tenofovir Alafenamide Fumarate (TAF)
33. Terbinafine
34. Valganciclovir

List of Medicines Removed from NLEM 2022

1. Alteplase
2. Atenolol
3. Bleaching Powder
4. Capreomycin
5. Cetrimide
6. Chlorpheniramine
7. Diloxanide furoate
8. Dimercaprol
9. Erythromycin
10. Ethinylestradiol
11. Ethinylestradiol(A) Norethisterone (B)
12. Ganciclovir
13. Kanamycin
14. Lamivudine (A) + Nevirapine (B) + Stavudine (C)
15. Leflunomide
16. Methyldopa
17. Nicotinamide
18. Pegylated interferon alfa 2a, Pegylated interferon alfa 2b
19. Pentamidine
20. Prilocaine (A) + Lignocaine (B)
21. Procarbazine
22. Ranitidine
23. Rifabutin
24. Stavudine (A) + Lamivudine (B) 25. Sucralfate
25. White Petrolatum

You can download the National List of Essential Medicines 2022 India PDF using the link given below.