{"entity":{"id":"paper-vargas-who-eml-cancer-chile-kenya-thailand-2026","kind":"paper","name":"Best practices for implementing the WHO Model List of Essential Cancer Medicines: Chile, Kenya, and Thailand","aka":[],"tldr":"A comparison of how Chile, Kenya and Thailand put the World Health Organization's list of essential cancer medicines into their public benefit packages; Thailand lists 58 of its 64 medicines and 127 cancer medicines in all.","summary":"A comparative case study of three countries chosen for at least 80% alignment with the 2023 World Health Organization Model List of Essential Medicines for cancer (64 medicines), an income transition in the early 2010s and improved universal coverage between 2010 and 2023. Data came from predefined bilingual searches validated by country co-authors.\n\nThe authors describe three routes: Chile's political-fiscal model, anchored in statutory guarantees decided jointly by the health and finance ministries; Thailand's technical-negotiation model, using health technology assessment to inform selection and price negotiation; and Kenya's protocol-partnership model, driven by specialist consensus and international collaboration.","asOf":"2026-11-04","links":[{"label":"J Cancer Policy 2026","url":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcpo.2026.100799"},{"label":"PubMed","url":"https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/42697524/"}],"tags":[],"related":[],"cancers":[],"sections":[],"technologies":[],"targets":[],"drugs":[],"companies":[],"institutions":["hitap","thai-fda"],"pathways":[],"terms":["hta"],"trials":[],"people":[],"bottlenecks":[],"keyPapers":[],"journals":[],"dependsOn":[],"notes":[],"journal":"Journal of Cancer Policy","year":2026,"doi":"10.1016/j.jcpo.2026.100799","pmid":"42697524","authors":"Vargas V, Cortez R, Kizub D, Youngkong S, Bayona J","paperType":"review","findings":["Thailand's national list covers 58 of the 64 cancer medicines on the 2023 WHO list, and 127 cancer medicines in total.","Chile covers 60 of 64 (119 in total) and Kenya 58 of 64 (84 in total).","The authors note that only 25% of countries have a national cancer essential medicines list and fewer than 10% adequately fund it."],"whatItMeans":"Thailand's essential medicines list reaches most of what the WHO considers essential for cancer and goes well beyond it, using cost-effectiveness evidence and negotiation rather than a statutory guarantee.","caveats":["The authors state that high list alignment does not by itself guarantee that patients receive the medicines or are protected from the cost.","Three purposively chosen countries; not a ranking."]},"route":"/key-papers/paper-vargas-who-eml-cancer-chile-kenya-thailand-2026/","neighbours":{"institution":[{"id":"thai-fda","kind":"institution","name":"Food and Drug Administration, Thailand","route":"/institutions/thai-fda/"},{"id":"hitap","kind":"institution","name":"Health Intervention and Technology Assessment Program (HITAP)","route":"/institutions/hitap/"}],"term":[{"id":"hta","kind":"term","name":"Health technology assessment (HTA), reimbursement and QALYs","route":"/terms/hta/"}]}}