CRITERIA FOR SELE CTING DRUGS IN THE FORMULARY The criteria in selecting essential drugs for Escolarina Medica's hospital formulary were based on the World Health Organization's (WHO) guidelines for drawing up the national essential drug list is listed below: ← Cost Benefits – considers the cost of the total treatment and not only the unit cost of the drug. ← Efficacy and safety – the selection must always be evidence-based. ← Pharmacologic Advantages and Availability – consider factors such as comparative pharmacokinetic properties or by local; considerations such as availability of facilities for manufacture and storage. ← Quality – each selected drug must be available in a form in which adequate quality, including bioavailability can be assured. ← Rational Formulation – most essential drugs should be as single compound formulation. Fixed-ratio combination products are acceptable only when the dosage of each ingredient meets the requirements of a defined population group and when the combination has proven advantage over single compounds administered separately in therapeutic effect, safety and compliance. ← Relative Benefits – applied to drugs which appear to be similar in the above respects.

The conception of the Escolarina Medica formulary was the hospital’s means of responding to the problem of inadequate supply of quality and essential drugs to the Filipinos. The Escolarina Medica rests on the five pillars, namely: assurance of safe and efficacious pharmaceutical products, promotion of rational drug use, self-reliance, tailored procurement of drugs and people empowerment. It is in the course of advancing the use of essential drug list and the implementation of the formulary system that the second pillar can be realized and strengthened. With the same principles, the Escolarina Medica formulated