science

WHO Drug Dictionary

WHO Drug Dictionary is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand WHO Drug Dictionary rather than just read about it. In short: The WHODrug Dictionary is an international classification of medicines created by the WHO Programme for International Drug Monitoring and managed by the Uppsala Monitoring Centre. It is used by pharmaceutical companies, clinical trial organizations and drug regulatory authorities for identifying drug names in spontaneous ADR reporting (and pharmacovigilance) and in clinical trials.

Key takeaways

WHO Drug Dictionary belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect WHO Drug Dictionary to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of WHO Drug Dictionary from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

The WHODrug Dictionary is an international classification of medicines created by the WHO Programme for International Drug Monitoring and managed by the Uppsala Monitoring Centre. It is used by pharmaceutical companies, clinical trial organizations and drug regulatory authorities for identifying drug names in spontaneous ADR reporting (and pharmacovigilance) and in clinical trials. Created in 1968 and regularly updated, since 2005 there have been major developments in the form of a WHO Drug Dictionary Enhanced (with considerably more fields and data entries) and a WHO Herbal Dictionary, which covers traditional and herbal medicines. Since 2016 all of the WHODrug products have been available in a single subscription service called WHODrug Global. Organization WHODrug drug code consist of 11 characters (alphanumeric code). It has 3 parts: Drug Record Number(Drug Rec No), Sequence number 1(Seq1) and Sequence number 2 (Seq2). Drug Rec No consists of 6 characters. It uniquely identifies active moieties, regardless of salt form or plant part and extract. Seq1 is used to uniquely identify different variations (e.g. salts and esters), plant parts and extraction methods, thereby defining active substances or a combination of active substances. WHODrug records sharing the same Drug Rec No and Seq1 contain the same variation/plant part/extract variation of the same active moiety. For single-ingredient records, Seq1=01 identifies a specific active moiety. If Seq1 is higher than 01 it refers to variations of that active moiety. For multi-ingredient records, Seq1=01 identifies a combination of active moieties. If Seq1 is higher than 01 it refers to variations of one or more of the active moieties in the combination. Finally, Seq2 uniquely identifies the name of the record in WHODrug.

Example The Drug Code for the substance Ibuprofen is 001092 01 001. The Drug Code for the trade name Advil infants pain & fever relief is 001092 01 A3D.

Relationship to Anatomical Therapeutic Chemical Classification System WHODrug records are classified with at least one code from Anatomical Therapeutic Chemical Classification System (including the HATC which stands for Herbal ATC and which is treated as part of ATC for mapping purposes). Preferably, a fourth level ATC code is assigned. ATC assignments in WHODrug are marked as 'official' or 'UMC-assigned'. Official ATC codes are classifications included in the official ATC index, while UMC-assigned ATC codes are classifications NOT included in the official ATC index. In addition, a separate cross reference called "Cross Reference ATC 5". In this additional reference, WHODrug records are matched to fifth level ATC codes where applicable.

Formats WHODrug is offered in Four formats (called B3 and C3). B3 format is brief while C3 format contains additional columns on top of B3 format.

Dictionary Versions

Standardised Drug Groupings WHODrug concepts can be organized into groups. Standardised Drug Groupings (SDGs) define groups of drugs. For example, diuretics, corticosteroids, drugs used in diabetes. Groups are also defined based on interaction, for example, drugs interacting with CYP2C8 or drugs interacting with UGT. R,Lee

References

External links www.who-umc.org

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with WHO Drug Dictionary

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what WHO Drug Dictionary claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to WHO Drug Dictionary before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about WHO Drug Dictionary ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of WHO Drug Dictionary

In research: WHO Drug Dictionary appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses WHO Drug Dictionary in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: WHO Drug Dictionary is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Pharmacological classification systems, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for WHO Drug Dictionary outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study WHO Drug Dictionary in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what WHO Drug Dictionary means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain WHO Drug Dictionary out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is WHO Drug Dictionary in simple terms?

Why does WHO Drug Dictionary matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study WHO Drug Dictionary?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on WHO Drug Dictionary.