Single-Pill Strategy To Beat Cardiovascular Diseases Gets WHO Recognition

Relevance: GS 2 - Issues relating to the development and management of Social Sector/Services relating to Health; GS 3 - Science and Technology- developments and their applications and effects in everyday life.

(Source: The Hindu,08/02/23)

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Why in the news?

• Recently, the World Health Organization updated its Model Lists of Essential Medicines (EML) 2023 to include three fixed-dose combinations of cardiovascular medicines or polypills for use in primary and secondary prevention of atherosclerotic cardiovascular diseases.
  • The WHO Model Lists of Essential Medicines are updated every two years by the Expert Committee on Selection and Use of Essential Medicines.
  • It is intended to serve as a guide for countries or regional authorities to adopt or adapt in accordance with local priorities and treatment guidelines for the development and updating of national essential medicines lists

How can Polypills reduce the risk of cardiovascular diseases?

• The use of the polypill is associated with reduced risks of cardiovascular events, including fatal and non-fatal myocardial infarction and stroke, and the need for revascularization in primary and secondary prevention settings.
• The term "polypill" describes a pill that contains a combination of several medications commonly used to treat heart disease and high blood pressure.
• According to research polypill reduced the risk of future heart attacks and strokes by 40% to 50%.
• Low-cost: The polypill is a simple and low-cost public health intervention that prevents millions of cardiovascular events and deaths each year.
• It requires little monitoring, administered to many people with physician support.
• The polypill is not a new drug but a drug delivery mechanism, promoting medication adherence and saving costs by preventing hospitalizations.
• Polycap, manufactured by Cadila in India is one of the polypills that has been included in the WHO’s Model Lists of Essential Medicines (EML).
• Polycap is a combination of four drugs simvastatin + ramipril + atenolol + hydrochlorothiazide, along with acetylsalicylic acid or aspirin.
• The inclusion of polypills into the EML can encourage governments and insurance companies to recommend them.
• Private practitioners may also start prescribing it gradually, leading to increased availability in the market.

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FAQs

MCQ

Question:  A question can be asked on the terminologies like Polypill, FDC similar to the one given below

In the context of the developments in Bioinformatics, the term ‘transcriptome’, sometimes seen in the news, refers to (UPSC -2016 )

(a) a range of enzymes used in genome editing

(b) the full range of mRNA molecules expressed by an organism

(c) the description of the mechanism of gene expression

(d) a mechanism of genetic mutations taking place in cells