WHO list of priority medical devices for management of cardiovascular diseases and diabetes

This publication was developed in response to the need for a reference list of priority medical devices required for management of noncommunicable diseases (NCDs), focusing on cardiovascular diseases and diabetes, especially for low- and middle-income countries to support universal health coverage actions. The current list complements the WHO List of priority medical devices for COVID-19 published in 2020, the WHO list of priority medical devices for cancer management published in 2017 and the Interagency list of medical devices for essential interventions for reproductive, maternal, newborn and child health published in 2015.

Objectives of this publication were to:

• determine and select the medical devices required for priority interventions to manage cardiovascular diseases and diabetes aligned with WHO guidance, policies and evidence-based guidelines;
• expand the WHO Priority Medical Devices lists, these now include reproductive, maternal, new born and child health, the ones for cancer management and the most recent ones for COVID-19, to those for cardiovascular diseases and diabetes, which will become global guidances that Member States can use as a reference to define their national medical devices lists;
• provide guidance to countries, national and regional health departments, and health facilities to prioritize medical devices for procurement or reimbursement to manage NCDs in their settings.

This publication is intended for Ministries of Health, public health planners, health technology managers, disease managers, researchers, policy-makers, funding and procurement agencies, and support/ advocacy groups for patients suffering from cardiac diseases, stroke and diabetes. It serves to inform  policy-makers and technical decision-makers on the selection of medical devices required for the package of  benefits and interventions for a target population in the context of universal health coverage.