National List of Essential Medicines (NLEM)

• The Union Health Ministry has released the updated National List of Essential Medicines (NLEM), which now includes 384 medications along with 34 new ones and 26 medications that were not on the previous list.
• The new anti-cancer therapies included are Bendamustine Hydrochloride, which is used to treat a certain type of blood and lymph node cancers; Irinotecan HCI Trihydrate used alone or in combination with other drugs to treat colorectal and pancreatic cancers; Lenalidomide for treating various type of cancers; and Leuprolide acetate, used to treat prostate cancer.
• According to the World Health Organization (WHO), essential medications are those that address the population's top health care needs.

What is The National List of Essential Medicines (NLEM)?

• The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare published a list called the National List of Essential Medicines (NLEM).
• The National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority has set a price ceiling that the medications included in the NLEM are sold below (NPPA).
• It was designed in India in accordance with the WHO's Essential Medicines List (EML).

History:

• In 1996, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare created and published India's first National List of Essential Medicines, which included 279 drugs. Later, this list was updated in 2003, 2011, 2015, and 2022.
• The goal is to direct safe and efficient treatment of a population's top illness issues.
• Encourage the sensible use of medications.
• Maximize a nation's available health resources.
• In order for state governments to compile their list of necessary medications, it can also serve as a guide.
• Public sector drug supply and drug procurement.

What Prerequisites Must a Medicine Meet in Order to Be Included in NLEM?

Before a medicine is included in the NLEM, a number of factors are considered. Which are:

• Essentiality: A drug should meet the criteria listed previously and may be necessary when taking the population as a whole into account.
• Variations in disease burden the burden of disease in the nation is continuously shifting over time. TB may have once been more urgently addressed. The importance of another illness, like Covid-19, could change in the near future. Therefore, when creating the list, the most common disease is taken into account.
• Efficacy and Safety: The medicine must have "unequivocal" evidence of efficacy and wider acceptance based on its safety to be included in the list.
• Cost-Effectiveness: The total price of the treatment must be considered while including the drug in NLEM. Only unit price may not be the best benchmark for this.
• Fixed Dose Combinations (FDCs): The single-dose medicines are considered for inclusion in NLEM. FDCs are only included if they have a proven advantage concerning the therapeutic effect.
• Turnover: High sales turnover alone is not considered a good benchmark for inclusion in the NLEM. Other factors are also required to be essentially considered for it..

When is a Drug Removed from the NLEM?

• If a drug is outlawed in India, it is removed from the list. Additionally, it is taken out if there are any reports of drug safety issues.
• If a medication has improved efficacy, a favorable safety profile, or higher cost-effectiveness, it is taken out of the NLEM.

Essential Medicine List (EML)

• Disease prevalence, medication effectiveness, safety, and comparative cost-effectiveness are taken into account when compiling the list.
• Such medications ought to be accessible in a way that a person or a group of people can afford them.
• The Expert Committee on Selection and Use of Essential Medicines updates the WHO EML every two years.
• Tanzania was the first nation to create its EML in the world in 1970. The World Health Assembly (WHA) then asked WHO to help member nations choose and purchase vital medications in 1975, guaranteeing good quality at a fair price.
• The first WHO model list of essential medications, which included 186 medications, was subsequently released in 1977.

Delisting of Inactive Political Parties

Recently, the Election Commission declared 253 other political parties to be "inactive" and ordered the delisting of 86 registered but unrecognized political parties that it discovered to be "non-existent."

Major Findings

The 253 parties were delisted for the following reason:

• They failed to react to the letter or notification that was provided to them and failed to participate in any elections, including those for the General Assembly of a State or the Parliament Elections in 2014 and 2019.
• Impact: The Election Symbols (Reservation and Allotment) Order, 1968, which permits parties to apply for a common symbol for their candidates, will not allow the parties that have been declared inactive to profit from it.
• It is important to remember that registered unrecognized political parties (RUPP) are granted the right to use a common symbol in exchange for a commitment to field at least 5% of the candidates in a State's Legislative Assembly election.

Political Party

• It is a collection of individuals who band together to run for office and maintain control over the government.
• They concur on a number of social policies and programs that will advance the common good.
• Try to persuade individuals as to why your plans are superior to others since there may be divergent opinions on what is best for all parties.
• Through elections, they attempt to put these ideals into action by gaining support from the general public.
• the prerequisites for becoming recognized as a state or national party

Become a state party by:

• 8% of the total votes cast in the state during the Lok Sabha election from the state or the Assembly polls, or 6% of the votes cast in the Assembly elections and two Assembly seats, or 6% of the votes cast in the LS from the state and an MP from the state, or 3% of all Assembly seats or three seats (whichever is greater).

To register as a National Party:

• In the event that Party is regarded as a legitimate political party in four or more states.
• In addition to winning four Lok Sabha seats, receive at least 6% of the vote in four states.
• It obtained at least 2% of the LS seats (i.e., 11 seats in the existing House having 543 members).

In India, how are political parties registered?

The Representation of the People Act, 1951's section 29A regulations govern political party registration.

Application submission deadline:

• According to the rules established by the Commission in the exercise of the authority granted by Article 324 of the Constitution of India and Section 29A of the Representation of the People Act, 1951, a party seeking registration under the said section with the Commission must apply to the Commission within 30 days of the date of its formation.

Demand draft:

• A demand draught for Rs 10,000 must be included with the application. A printed copy of the Party's constitution, rules, and memorandum must be included as well.

Specific clause:

• The party's constitution, rules and regulations, or memorandum should contain a specific clause addressing organisational elections at various levels, the frequency of such elections, and the periods of office for party office holders.

Electoral rolls:

• In order to verify that at least 100 party members are registered voters, it is also necessary to acquire the most recent electoral rolls for those individuals.

Affidavit Requirement:

• The application also requires an affidavit stating that none of the party's members are affiliated with any other political party that is registered with the Commission, duly signed by the party's president or general secretary, and sworn before a First-Class Magistrate/Oath Commissioner)/Notary Public.

• The applicant association is required, among other things, to publish the proposed name of the party in two national daily newspapers and two local daily newspapers on two days so that any objections to the proposed registration of the party before the Commission can be made within 30 days of such publication.
• The Election Commission's website also features the notice for publication.

Qualifications for Deregistration

• A party may only be de-registered in the following circumstances: if its registration was gained fraudulently; if the Central Government declares it to be illegal; or if a party alters its internal constitution and tells the ECI that it can no longer adhere to the Indian Constitution.

Why is it vital to register with the EC?

• When it comes to the distribution of free emblems, political party candidates who are registered with the Election Commission of India would be given preference over candidates who are solely independent.
• Further, subject to meeting the requirements outlined by the Commission in the Election Symbols (Reservation and Allotment) Order, 1968, as revised from time to time, registered political parties may eventually be recognized as a "State Party" or "National Party"
• When a party is acknowledged as a State Party, it is entitled to the exclusive right to allot its reserved symbol to the candidates it has nominated in the State or States where it has received such recognition.

About Election Commission India (ECI)

• On January 25th, 1950, it was founded in conformity with the Constitution.
• It is an independent constitutional body in charge of managing India's Union and State election procedures.
• The organisation oversees elections for the Lok Sabha, Rajya Sabha, state legislative assemblies, state legislative councils, and the presidential and vice presidential positions in the nation.
• Elections to panchayats and municipalities in the states are unrelated to it.
• A separate State Election Commission is made available for this purpose by the Indian Constitution.