National Essential Medicines Lists

Pakistan included all 67 WHO-listed anticancer medicines in its NEML, while Afghanistan included none. Inclusion of WHO-listed anticancer medicines in South Asian NEMLs varied widely across the eight countries. NEML inclusion signals national policy commitment and can influence procurement, reimbursement, importation, pricing, and local production. Countries sometimes prioritized local cancer patterns instead of directly adopting WHO EML recommendations. Financial limitations and weak infrastructure constrained alignment between national lists and the WHO EML.