Medicines for treatment of older people in guidelines and essential medicines lists, WHO African Region

Bulletin of the World Health Organization 2026 Open access

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Authors: Ke Wei Foong, Amelia Paveley, Isabella Alcock, Pamela Gorejena-Chidawanyika, Celia Louise Gregson, Grace M E Pearson
DOI: 10.2471/blt.25.294289
Cited by: 0

Abstract

Objective: To assess the geriatric medicine content in national standard treatment guidelines and essential medicines lists across the 47 Member States of the World Health Organization (WHO) African Region. Methods: -tests, we determined associations between country-level metrics and geriatric medicine content. Findings: -value: 0.02, respectively). Conclusion: Countries in the African Region with a higher proportion of people older than 65 years were more likely to include geriatric medicine content in their standard treatment guidelines and essential medicines lists. There is considerable potential for expanding guidance on management of common geriatric conditions, such as frailty, incontinence and polypharmacy.

Fields of Study & Subjects

Pharmaceutical Practices and Patient Outcomes Pharmaceutical Economics and Policy Clinical practice guidelines implementation

Publication details

Journal / source
Bulletin of the World Health Organization
Volume
104
Issue
02
Pages
82–93
Publication date
28 January 2026
Language
EN