Improving global health by Repurposing Essential Medicines Internationally (Remedi) is a collaborative initiative to uncover new therapeutic uses for hundreds of medicines on the WHO’s Essential Medicines List and amplify availability of existing and new uses to benefit priority populations.
Meet Remedi’s leadership here.
Read our two-page factsheet here.
Read more about VUMC’s drug repurposing methods here.
Overview
The World Health Organization (WHO) Essential Medicines List (EML) defines minimum acceptable availability of 376 safe, affordable medicines. Over 150 countries use the EML to guide treatment decisions. However, its utility is hindered by a limited number of diseases addressed and under-powered pathways to spread information. As a result, billions of people in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) have inadequate access to treatments for serious illnesses. Our program, Remedi, will uncover additional uses of EML medicines, and catalyze the EML’s global reach by enhancing its format, accessibility, and health worker awareness. We will make better use of what we have. We will systematically curate, validate, share, and locally implement existing and new therapeutic uses, prioritizing the most prevalent medicines for diseases with the highest current and projected future burden, affecting the most vulnerable and marginalized. Hundreds of millions of people will benefit from medicines already in local hospitals and pharmacies.
- 90% of all medicines prescribed are on the Essential Medicines List in 109 countries.
- 102 of the EML medicines are available in over 80% of countries.
Expanding the reach and utility of the Essential Medicines List
