The third edition of the Ethiopian national drug list is now revised after five years of use. The purpose of this fourth edition of the list remains the same to provide the various categories of health workers and related institutions with up-to-date list of drugs which can be imported or locally produced subject to compliance with the registration requirements of the regulatory body.

The draft of the revised version of the list was initially prepared by two adhoc committees composed of members drawn from the Drug Administration & Control Authority and then presented for deliberation to a three-day workshop. The participants of the workshop were specialists in the various disciplines of medicine, representatives of teaching schools. Professional associations, health bureaus of all regions, relevant departments of the Ministry of Health, Research institutions, consumer associations, and other related organizations. The final revised version of the list was then prepared by a technical committee designated at the workshop.

In the course of reviewing the previous edition of the list, drugs which are obsolete, less effective and with low benefit/risk ratio have been deleted while drugs with better safety and efficacy profile have been included. In the preparation of this edition of the list, the pharmacological therapeutic classification system used in t' e previous edition is still maintained.

This fourth edition of the national drug list is further classified by five levels of health care envisaging the four-tier health care delivery system of the country as well as part of the old six-tier system (i.e. health station which are being phased-out).

The five sub-lists include list of drugs for:

Community Health Posts headed by primary health workers;

• Health Stations led by health assistants,
• Health Centers headed by Health Officers (B.Sc);
• District Hospitals headed by General Practitioners (M.D) and;
• Zonal Hospitals having specialist physicians in the various fields of medicine.

Thus, Users of the list are advised to refer to the sub-list which is relevant to the level of service they render.

The development of a National Drug List is an ongoing process, Hence, the list will be subjected to continuous deletion and inclusion: as the pharmaceutical industry introduces new medicines, they will be critically evaluated in terms of, interalia, their potential to improve safety and efficacy, better patient compliance and other drug qualities.

Therefore, evidence, based comments and suggestions are welcome and can be sent to the Drug Administration and Control Authority of Ethiopia P.O. Box 5681. Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.