AACAP Endorses the Inclusion of Methylphenidate in the WHO Model Lists of Essential Medicines

Samuele Cortese; David Coghill; Gregory W Mattingly; Luis Augusto Rohde; Robyn P Thom; Timothy E Wilens; Ian C K Wong; Stephen V Faraone

doi:10.1016/j.jaac.2024.02.008

AACAP Endorses the Inclusion of Methylphenidate in the WHO Model Lists of Essential Medicines

J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry. 2024 Feb 28:S0890-8567(24)00076-5. doi: 10.1016/j.jaac.2024.02.008. Online ahead of print.

Authors

Samuele Cortese¹, David Coghill², Gregory W Mattingly³, Luis Augusto Rohde⁴, Robyn P Thom⁵, Timothy E Wilens⁶, Ian C K Wong⁷, Stephen V Faraone⁸

Affiliations

¹ Centre for Innovation in Mental Health, School of Psychology, Faculty of Environmental and Life Sciences; Clinical and Experimental Sciences (CNS and Psychiatry), Faculty of Medicine, University of Southampton, Southampton, United Kingdom; University of Bari "Aldo Moro", Bari, Italy; Solent NHS Trust, Southampton, United Kingdom; and Hassenfeld Children's Hospital at NYU Langone, New York University Child Study Center, New York. Electronic address: samuele.cortese@soton.ac.uk.
² University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia, and Murdoch Children's research Institute, Melbourne, Australia.
³ Center for Neuroscience, Feinstein Institute for Medical Research, Manhasset, New York, and Midwest Research Group, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, Missouri.
⁴ Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Program and Developmental Psychiatry Program, Hospital de Clinicas de Porto Alegre, Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, Brazil; Medical Council, UniEduK, São Paulo, Brazil; and the Center for Research and Innovation in Mental Health, National Institute of Developmental Psychiatry, São Paulo, Brazil.
⁵ Lurie Center for Autism, Lexington, Massachusetts; Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts; and Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts.
⁶ School of Medicine, Harvard University, Boston, Massachusetts.
⁷ University of Hong Kong Hong Kong SAR China; Centre for Medicines Optimisation Research and Education University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust London United Kingdom; and Aston School of Pharmacy, Aston University, Birmingham, United Kingdom.
⁸ Norton College of Medicine at SUNY Upstate Medical University, Syracuse, New York.

PMID: 38428579
DOI: 10.1016/j.jaac.2024.02.008

Abstract

Despite decades of clinical use and a large body of evidence, the WHO continues to exclude methylphenidate for attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) from its EML.¹ The exclusion of methylphenidate has dire implications for millions of individuals with ADHD worldwide, especially those living in low and low-middle income countries (LMIC), where governmental decisions to make medicines available are contingent on EML listing.

Publication types

Letter