Drugs

The World Health Organization (WHO) today released its updated Bacterial Priority Pathogens List (BPPL) 2024, featuring 15 families of antibiotic-resistant bacteria grouped into critical, high and medium categories for prioritization. The list provides guidance on the development of new and necessary treatments to stop the spread of antimicrobial resistance (AMR). These guidelines contain recommendations on the identification and management of substance use and substance use disorders for health care services which…

• The ECDD conducts scientific reviews at the request of the UN Commission on Narcotic Drugs and is the only treaty-mandated body to provide health recommendations to the Commission to inform decisions in drug policy.
• Equal access and the reliable supply of medicines is anongoing goal of WHO and global health delivery systems, the achievement ofwhich is hampered by several factors.
• Steroids generally act much more slowly (hours to days) than agents that act by either of the two other mechanisms.
• Following recommendations by the World Health Organization (WHO), the United Nations Commission on Narcotic Drugs (CND) has decided to place five new psychoactive substances and one medicine under international control.
• Gram-negative bacteria have built-in abilities to find new ways to resist treatment and can pass along genetic material that allows other bacteria to become drug-resistant as well.

List of Narcotic Drugs under International Control

While some 64 million people globally are estimated to live with drug use disorders, access to treatment remains very limited, with less than 10% having access to it. “To build a healthier, more equitable society, we must urgently commit to bold actions that reduce the negative health and social consequences of alcohol consumption and make treatment for substance use disorders accessible and affordable.” Universal health coverage can only be achieved when thereis affordable access to safe, effective and quality medicines and healthproducts. WHO works with partners and Member States to strengthen regulation,including post-marketing surveillance, and to eliminate substandard andfalsified medicines. The report highlights the urgent need to accelerate actions globally towards achieving Sustainable Development Goal (SDG)  target 3.5 by 2030 by reducing alcohol and drug consumption and improving access to quality treatment for substance use disorders. Other high priority pathogens, such as antibiotic-resistant Neisseria gonorrhoeae and Enterococcus faecium, present unique public health challenges, including persistent infections and resistance to multiple antibiotics, necessitating targeted research and public health interventions.

WHO recommends that essential medicines, including those that are controlled, be available to all patients at all times at a price that the individual… Boarding is a considerable issue for Medicaid-enrolled youths seeking mental health care in emergency departments (EDs), according to a research letter… Joint UNESCO, UNODC and WHO publication on education sector responses to substance use in 2017 UNESCO (the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural… The publication was invited by resolution 58/5 of the Commission on Narcotic Drugs entitled “Supporting the collaboration of public health and justice…

A number of therapeutic proteins, including certain antibodies, have been developed through genetic engineering. Since 1977, WHO has maintained a list of essentialmedicines as a means to promote health equity around the world. This list beganwith 208 identified medicines and has grown to include 460 differentpharmaceuticals. Although it was not designed as a global standard, the listnow acts as a guide for the procurement and supply of medicines at the nationaland local level. Differences in efficacy determine whether a drug that binds to a receptor is classified as an agonist or as an antagonist. A drug whose efficacy and affinity are sufficient for it to be able to bind to a receptor and affect cell function is an agonist.

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This feedback helps WHO develop high-quality guidelines that reflect diverse perspectives and respond to the needs of communities worldwide. To ensure transparency and inclusivity, WHO invites members of the public and interested organizations to review the biographies of the GDG members and provide feedback. Manuals for the Alcohol, Smoking drug rehab for pregnant women specialized prenatal treatment and Substance Involvement Screening Test (ASSIST) and the ASSIST-linked brief interventionsThe ASSIST package, which…

WHO guideline on balanced national controlled medicines policies to ensure medical access and safety:…

• The body is therefore highly susceptible to the calculated chemical subversion of parts of this communication network that occurs when drugs are administered.
• Effective treatment options for substance use disorders exist, but treatment coverage remains incredibly low.
• The highest levels of per capita consumption in 2019 were observed in the WHO European Region (9.2 litres) and the Region of Americas (7.5 litres).

FRIDAY, Aug. 15, 2025 — Nearly half of U.S. adults should receive earlier treatment for high blood pressure, including lifestyle changes and medications,… WEDNESDAY, Aug. 20, 2025 — For the first time in 30 years, the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) has issued vaccine recommendations that differ… This second review of the world medicines situation (first published in 1988 as The WorldDrug Situation) presents the available evidence on global production,… The Guideline Development Group (GDG) is composed of members from all WHO regions, serving in their individual capacities rather than as representatives of affiliated organizations. GDG members were selected by WHO technical staff based on their technical expertise, their role as end-users (e.g., programme managers and healthcare providers), and their representation of affected communities.

Receptors

In the third type of mechanism, which is peculiar to steroid hormones and related drugs, the steroid binds to a receptor that consists primarily of nuclear proteins. Because this interaction occurs inside the cell, agonists for this receptor must be able to cross the cell membrane. The drug-receptor complex acts on specific regions of the genetic material deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) in the cell nucleus, resulting in an increased rate of synthesis for some proteins and a decreased rate for others. Steroids generally act much more slowly (hours to days) than agents that act by either of the two other mechanisms. The BPPL 2024 saw the removal of five pathogen-antibiotic combinations that were included in BPPL 2017, and the addition of four new combinations. The fact that third-generation cephalosporin-resistant Enterobacterales are listed as a standalone item within the critical priority category emphasizes their burden and need for targeted interventions, especially in low- and middle-income countries.

The critical priority pathogens, such as gram-negative bacteria resistant to last-resort antibiotics, and Mycobacterium tuberculosis resistant to the antibiotic rifampicin, present major global threats due to their high burden, and ability to resist treatment and spread resistance to other bacteria. Gram-negative bacteria have built-in abilities to find new ways to resist treatment and can pass along genetic material that allows other bacteria to become drug-resistant as well. In the first type of mechanism, the ion channel is part of the same protein complex as the receptor, and no biochemical intermediates are involved.

Publications

Following recommendations by the World Health Organization (WHO), the United Nations Commission on Narcotic Drugs (CND) has decided to place five new psychoactive substances and one medicine under international control. Building on the value of the BPPL as a global tool, tailoring the list to country and regional contexts can account for regional variations in pathogen distribution and the AMR burden. For example, antibiotic-resistant Mycoplasma genitalium, which is not included in the list, is an increasing concern in some parts of the world. Cannabis is globally the most commonly used psychoactive substance under international control. Effective treatment options for substance use disorders exist, but treatment coverage remains incredibly low. The proportion of people in contact with substance use treatment services ranged from less than 1% to no more than 35% in 2019, in countries providing this data.

Assessment of shelf life and storage conditions of registered oxytocin in the Southern African Development…

Above-mentioned decisions were announced at the 68th regular session of the Commission on Narcotic Drugs, taking place in Vienna, Austria, on March 2025. A substance can be placed on WHO ECDDs Surveillance List to enable the ongoing monitoring of data relating to a new psychoactive substance (NPS) that has the potential to cause public health harm. The death rates due to alcohol consumption per litre of alcohol consumed are highest in low-income countries and lowest in high-income countries. The report highlights that despite some reduction in the alcohol-related death rates since 2010, the overall number of deaths due to alcohol consumption remains unacceptably high and amounts to 2.6 million in 2019, with the highest numbers in the European Region and the African region. This thinking changed when the mechanism of drug action began to be analyzed in physiological terms and when some of the first chemical analyses of naturally occurring drugs were performed. The end of the 19th century signaled the growth of the pharmaceutical industry and the production of the first synthetic drugs.

WHO’s Global status report on alcohol and health and treatment of substance use disorders provides a comprehensive update based on 2019 data on the public health impact of alcohol and drug use and situation with alcohol consumption and treatment of substance use disorders worldwide. In the guidelines, WHO recommends the use of a range of treatment options for opioid dependence. These include opioid agonist maintenance treatment (or OAMT) with medicines such as methadone and buprenorphine, pharmacological treatment with opioid antagonists (such as naltrexone) as well as psychosocial support.