Submission ID 118576
| Issue/Objective | The National Essential Medicines List (NEML) Selection process is a pivotal component of an Essential Medicines-based National Medicines Policy. Aligning NEML selection process of WHO member countries with WHO guidelines can lead to the selection of a NEML that addresses the priority healthcare needs of a country. The objective of this study is to develop and test an instrument that measures NEML selection process design effectiveness by evaluating the alignment of NEML selection process design (policy content) with WHO guidelines. |
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| Methodology/Approach | Instrument design involved a literature review with modified thematic analysis, and consultation with subject matter experts for item creation. A document review was conducted to generate a response scheme. The instrument was tested using results from a pilot study to determine inter-rater reliability. Instrument design was performed in conjunction with subject matter experts to establish face and construct validity, as well two proxy measure of NEML selection process effectiveness, indicative of an instrument with good validity were used to quantitatively evaluate validity. |
| Results | An instrument consisting of 16 items was created, along with an associated rating scheme that evaluated NEML selection process design effectiveness. The NEML selection process design effectiveness total score absolute agreement ICC was 0.98 (95% confidence interval 0.91 to 0.99), and consistency ICC was 0.97 (95% confidence interval 0.88 to 0.99). Instrument scores varied in a corresponding manner with the two proxy measure of NEML selection process effectiveness, indicative of an instrument with good validity. |
| Discussion/Conclusion | The instrument developed in this study allows for the evaluation of the policy content with respect to the NEML selection process design of a large number of countries, which can be utilized by countries to improve policy design |
| Presenters and affiliations | Ekanki Saxena IHPME, University of Toronto Nav Persaud Department of Family and Community Medicine, St. Michael's Hospital, Toronto, Ontario, Canada Jillian Kohler Munk School of Global Affairs, University of Toronto Kevin Thorpe Dalla Lana School of Public Health, University of Toronto |
