The APUA is a non-profit, international organization that conducts educational, research and international networking activities to promote appropriate use of antibiotics around the world. The site includes sections with fulltext documents on research and surveillance, and information for the health practitioner and patient/consumer, plus current news briefs. http://www.tufts.edu/med/apua/ This is a Spanish-language site for pharmacists and subscribers in Latin America. The site promotes high-quality care and rational use of drugs. www.boletinfarmacos.org The BNF provides healthcare professionals with authoritative, unbiased and practical information on the selection and use of drugs. The text is clear, concise and accessible and the content is revised every 6 months. The BNF is published by the British Medical Association and the Royal Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain. The main target audience is the UK prescriber, but the the BNF is acclaimed internationally and is used worldwide. http://www.bnf.org/bnf/ This site contains information about the campaign and related reports, publications, press releases and links. The campaign is sponsored by Medecins Sans Frontieres. http://www.accessmed-msf.org/ essentialdrugs.org is SATELLIFE's electronic discussion group on essential drugs. The site contains registration information for the email discussion list plus access to the E-DRUG archives. It is available in English, French, Spanish and Russian. There is also a separate list for health professionals in India, INDIA-DRUG. The discussions focus on the use of essential drugs in developing and transitional countries. http://www.essentialdrugs.org/index.php The goal of this international non-governmental agency is to improve health by reducing harm from inappropriate drug promotion. Using the Healthy Skepticism Library, individuals can search for ‘publications relevant to drug promotion’. Also accessible are a section devoted to developing countries, the publications of the WHO Essential Drugs Monitor and a major topics subject section plus links to relevant sites. http://www.healthyskepticism.org This WHO and University of Amsterdam publication aims to facilitate the rational use of medicine. By analyzing the consumer’s perspective, the study discusses the inappropriate use of medicines including over and self-medication, misuse of antiobiotics and injections plus overuse of safe medicines and unsafe use of herbal medicines. The publication highlights communication methods and strategies for developing the proper environment. Published in 2007, it is a large pdf document that can be downloaded in part or full. http://www.who.int/medicines/publications/WHO_PSM_PAR_2007.2.pdf The 2006 edition of the guide provides prices from nonprofit drug suppliers and procurement agencies. The content is available in English, Spanish and French and contains a keyword search engine. The full-text is available as s a pdf file. It is produced by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation funded SEAM Project in collaboration with the WHO. http://erc.msh.org/mainpage.cfm?file=1.0.htm&id=1&temptitle=Introduction&module=DMP&language=English This website contains information about INRUD and its activities. INRUD designs, tests, and disseminates effective strategies to improve the way drugs are prescribed, dispensed, and used, with a particular emphasis on resource poor countries. The INRUD network consists of 20 groups, 15 from Africa, Asia and Latin America. http://www.inrud.org/ INDICES is a global network of drug information centres, which advocates rational drug therapy particularly in developing countries. INDICES runs an e-mail list which provides a forum for discussion of all matters relating to drug information, and helps with specific drug information enquiries. http://www.essentialdrugs.org/indices/about.php This organization is the global federation of pharmacists and pharmaceutical scientists. Regarding low-income countries, FIP sets global pharmacy standards through professional and scientific guidelines, policy statements and declarations and collaborates with WHO and other international agencies. The site describes the organization’s numerous programs, projects and publications. www.fip.org/ The 'Antibiotic Guide' contains an antibiotics database, searchable by diagnosis, antibiotic, or pathogen. There is also a news and features section. The site aims to be international, but the content is somewhat biased to US users. It is maintained by the Johns Hopkins Division of Infectious Diseases, U.S. http://www.hopkins-abxguide.org/ The 2006 edition of the Merck Manuals Online Medical Library provides useful clinical and prescribing information for healthcare professionals. While the text is geared toward U.S. based practitioners, the text is comprehensive, clear and concise. It includes detailed information on paediatrics, psychiatry, obstetrics, gynaecology, dermatology, pharmacology, ophthalmology, otolaryngology, and a number of special subjects. The site includes a keyword search engine. http://www.merck.com/mmpe/index.html PDR Online provides access to the online version of Physicians' Desk Reference, PDR for Herbal medicines and PDR Multi-Drug Interactions. The content is biased towards the US. Registration is required (free). http://www.pdr.net/Home/Home.aspx PharmWeb is a series of links to pharmaceutical information on the Internet. The site indexes a wide range of organizations including pharmaceutical companies, government and regulatory bodies, societies, and publishers. The site includes a specialized search engine, PharmSearch. http://www.pharmweb.net/ This compilation is based partly on WHO guidelines and is organized by health care level (primary, hospital level). The site is divided into chapters on specific disease systems and contains a keyword index for each level of care. The site is available as a pdf file and is maintained by the South African Drug Action Programme. http://www.hst.org.za/publications/52 This site is a gateway to drug-related databases, journals, companies, toxicology, conferences, and organizations. It includes a keyword search engine. http://www.pharmacy.org/ This WHO site provides information on pharmaceutical and health technology developments with a particular focus on developing country environments. It includes links to 'blood safety and clinical technology', 'essential drugs and medicines' and 'vaccines and biologicals'. http://www.who.int/medicines_technologies/en/ The Model List Essential Medicines currently is in the 15th edition (2007) and is updated every two years. It is primarily intended for national, hospital and institutional 'essential medicines selection committees'.  The site also includes links to 'latest news and events' relating to essential medicines. http://www.who.int/medicines/publications/essentialmedicines/en/index.html Help us to improve Essential Health Links. Please send your comments and suggestions to: eh-links@healthnet.org