WHO
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Credits
How we work
The Prioritisation process
The purpose of the WHO review procedure is to evaluate psychoactive substances for international control. Using data provided by the WHO Secretariat, the Expert Committee on Drug Dependence (ECDD) conducts pre-reviews and critical reviews in order to provide scheduling advice to the WHO Director-General for further submission to and approval by the Commission on Narcotic Drugs (CND).
The Secretariat routinely collects relevant data related to psychoactive substances that are being used non-medically as well as medicines that might have abuse and dependence potential and be harmful
Data is sourced from the scientific and medical literature, WHO programmes, WHO collaborating centres, national health and drug control authorities, intergovernmental and nongovernmental organizations
research and academic institutions and other competent sources.
To determine the agenda of the ECDD, the Secretariat coordinates a substance prioritization process on an annual basis to identify substances that are not currently under international control that are
persistent, prevalent and harmful to public health. A list of substances are then discussed by the ECDD Working Group, to determine a list of substances to recommend for review.
ECDD Working Group
The Working Group’s purpose is to help advise the Secretariat on the prioritization of substances that may be considered for control under international drug control conventions. This will involve reviewing data received by the Secretariat via the substance prioritization process, as well as proposing substances that may be considered for a pre-review or critical review based on evidence of dependence or abuse liability of a substance, or emerging therapeutic use of a substance. The working group does not make recommendations about the international control of substances.
Pre-review
The purpose of a pre-review is to determine whether current information about a medicine justifies an Expert Committee critical review. It is a preliminary analysis of current findings and should not determine whether the control status of a medicine should be changed. The committee shall recommend a critical review if they agree that information justifies a change in the scheduling of a medicine under the 1961 or 1971 Conventions. The criteria for evaluating a medicine under pre-review is the same as a critical review.
A pre-review can be initiated when a proposal has been submitted to the ECDD to consider a medicine, with supporting information either by the Secretariat, any member of the Expert Committee, or representatives of other organizations invited to participate in the Expert Committee meeting.
Critical reviews
The purpose of a critical review is to consider whether the Expert Committee should advise the Director-General to recommend the scheduling of, or amending of the scheduling status of, a substance.
A critical review is initiated when there has been notification from a Party to the 1961 or the 1971 Convention concerning the scheduling of a substance, there has been an explicit request from CND to review a substance, pre-review of a substance has resulted in an Expert Committee recommendation for critical review or, information brought to WHO’s attention that a substance is clandestinely manufactured, or especially serious risk to public health and society and of no therapeutic use by any Party.
The critical review will provide a comprehensive overview of a substance to allow the Expert Committee to make a recommendation? on its scheduling status. Further information on the type of information included in a critical review or pre-review can be found in the FAQ section.
Member state questionnaire
Member states are invited to contribute to the ECDD review process by providing accurate information concerning substances under review at the current meeting. A questionnaire is sent to Member States to gather country information on the legitimate use, harmful use, evidence of public health harm, status of national control and potential impact of international control for each substance under evaluation.
The questionnaire is available in all 6 UN languages. The latest questionnaire can be viewed on the upcoming meeting page under the Events tab. The member state questionnaire supports the critical reviews and pre-review reports about substances under review to help the Expert Committee in making their recommendation on the scheduling status of a substance. The aggregate results from the member state questionnaires are published online alongside the critical review and pre-review reports and as an Annex, and within the final Technical Report from the ECDD meeting.
Information session
WHO Expert Committee meetings are closed to the public, however individuals or representatives of public and private institutions and civil society who wish to present information to committee members on issues related to the meeting agenda are invited to register their interest to attend a virtual information meeting prior to the closed session of the Committee.
Interested persons or organisations are offered the opportunity to provide input to the consideration of substances under review. The information session allows these parties to provide presentations and submit information to the Expert Committee at the current meeting.
Individuals and partners external to the WHO may listen to an update on current and future activities of the ECDD Secretariat, and to provide comment on issues on the ECDD agenda. Individuals may participate in the Information Session in several ways:
- Observing the meeting
- Sending a written statement for the consideration of the Committee
- Presenting information (live or pre-recorded) at the Information Session
Further information on how to register for the next information session and submit evidence will be displayed under the Events page.
Expert Committee Meeting
The Expert Committee meeting is a closed session, that is not open to the public, however, representatives from the international community, such as INCB and UNODC are invited to attend and contribute towards the meeting. The pre-review and critical reviews of each substance being considered at the meeting are discussed by the Expert Committee and a recommendation made regarding the need for international control of the substance.
Letter to UN Secretary General
Following the close of the Expert Committee meeting, a letter is drafted to the UN Secretary General regarding the recommendations from the ECDD meeting. This will include the recommended scheduling for each substance reviewed at the recent ECDD meeting.
Technical report series
The Technical Report Series is the meeting report from the Expert Committee on Drug Dependence Meeting. This will include the recommendations made by the Expert Committee at the meeting, including the scheduling changes suggested, the critical review reports, pre-review reports and aggregated data from the member state questionnaire.