Introduction The WHO Essential Medicine List for children (EMLc) is used for promoting access to medicines. The age-appropriateness of enteral (oral and rectal) formulations for children depend on their adaptability/flexibility to allow age-related or weight-related doses to be administered/prescribed and the child’s ability to swallow, as appropriate. There is scant information on the age-appropriateness of essential enteral medicines for children. Objective To evaluate the age-appropriateness of enteral essential medicines. Materials and methods Age-appropriateness of all enteral formulations indicated and recommended in the EMLc 3rd to 7th (2011–2019) editions were determined by assessing swallowability and/or dose adaptability for children under 12 years, stratified into five age groups. Results Enteral formulations in the EMLc were more age-appropriate for older children aged 6–11 years than for younger children. In the 3rd edition, for older children, 77%, n=342, of formulations were age-appropriate. For younger children, age-appropriateness decreased with age group: 34% in those aged 3–5 years, 30% in those aged 1–2 years, 22% among those aged 28 days to 11 months and 15% in those aged 0–27 days. Overall, similar proportions were found for the 7th edition. In contrast, the majority of medicines in the 7th list were age-appropriate in targeted diseases like HIV and tuberculosis. Conclusion Most recommended enteral essential medicines in EMLc 2011 and 2019 were not age-appropriate for children <6 years. Medicines which are not age-appropriate must be manipulated before administration, leading to potential issues of safety and efficacy. Evaluation of the age-appropriateness of formulations for medicines to be included in EMLc could improve access to better medicines for children in the future. Data are available on reasonable request. All data relevant to the study are included in the article or uploaded as supplementary information. Data available as supplementary material on request.

中文翻译：

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世卫组织 2011-2019 年儿童基本药物：肠内制剂的年龄适宜性

引言 世卫组织儿童基本药物清单 (EMLc) 用于促进获得药物。儿童肠内（口服和直肠）制剂的年龄适宜性取决于它们的适应性/灵活性，以允许给予/开具与年龄相关或与体重相关的剂量以及儿童的吞咽能力（视情况而定）。关于儿童基本肠内药物的年龄适宜性的信息很少。目的评价肠内基本药物的年龄适宜性。材料和方法 EMLc 第 3 至第 7 版（2011-2019 年）中指出和推荐的所有肠内制剂的年龄适宜性是通过评估 12 岁以下儿童的吞咽能力和/或剂量适应性来确定的，分为五个年龄组。结果 EMLc 中的肠内制剂更适合 6-11 岁的年龄较大的儿童，而不是年龄较小的儿童。在第 3 版中，对于年龄较大的儿童，77%（n=342）的配方适合年龄。对于年幼的儿童，年龄适宜性随年龄组而下降：3-5 岁为 34%，1-2 岁为 30%，28 天至 11 个月为 22%，0--15 岁为 15% 27 天。总体而言，在第 7 版中发现了相似的比例。相比之下，第 7 个清单中的大多数药物在 HIV 和结核病等目标疾病中是适合年龄的。结论 2011 年和 2019 年 EMLc 中大多数推荐的肠内基本药物不适用于 <6 岁儿童。不适合年龄的药物必须在给药前进行操作，导致潜在的安全性和有效性问题。评估将纳入 EMLc 的药物配方的年龄适宜性可以改善未来儿童获得更好药物的机会。可根据合理要求提供数据。所有与研究相关的数据都包含在文章中或作为补充信息上传。数据可根据要求作为补充材料提供。