Review and update of essential drug entries in the new Diccionari Enciclopèdic de Medicina (DEMCAT)

From the list that the World Health Organization compiled in 2019 with the drugs it considered essential, the Society of the Encyclopedic Dictionary of Medicine (SOCDEMCAT) and the Dr. Antoni Esteve Foundation have collaborated with TERMCAT in the terminological review and updating of 200 terms related to pharmacology, including those that have been used in the hospital field in Spain during the management of the health crisis of the COVID-19, as well as drugs that have been postulated as possible useful candidates for this disease according to the scientific literature.

In this way, the dictionary has updated the information of terms such as camrelizumab, the humanized monoclonal antibody that has been used to deal with COVID-19, chloroform, a drug of historical importance in the environment. of pharmacology, or chloroquine, a historical antimalarial that has also had exceptional use during the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus pandemic.

Those in charge of reviewing and updating the terminology of these terms have been Carlota Cerrillo Moya and Clara Escala Crusells, students of Pompeu Fabra University who have completed the Degree in Human Biology with the work Review and update of the entries of essential drugs in the new Encyclopedic Dictionary of Medicine (DEMCAT).

Thanks to its research work, 187 DEMCAT files have been updated and 13 new pharmacology-related terms have been created. These files offer the Catalan name (and synonymy, if applicable), plus the grammatical category. There are also equivalent denominations in Spanish, French and English, plus the grammatical category, scientific nomenclatures (where applicable), a definition, supplementary notes (if applicable), the thematic areas in which the term is included. and the documentary sources consulted for each of the fields in the terminology file.

This terminological update of 200 indispensable drugs that cover most of the therapeutic indications and pharmacological groups of the entire current therapeutic arsenal has been carried out under the supervision of experts in terminology and pharmacology, such as M. Antònia Julià and Sílvia Escrig, from TERMCAT, and Fèlix Bosch, from the Dr. Antoni Esteve. The elaboration of this first list should serve as a reference to redefine the selection criteria for the drugs included in the DEMCAT project. This collection will be a guide from now on, to continue to encourage the task of reviewing and updating drugs with an increasingly extensive and justified list according to the dimensions of the project.

SOCDEMCAT has promoted this academic collaboration within the framework of the DEMCAT project, an initiative of the Academy of Medical Sciences and Health of Catalonia and the Balearic Islands, the Enciclopèdia Catalana, the Institut d’Estudis Catalans, TERMCAT and the Department of Health of the Generalitat de Catalunya., which has the support of the Fundació Dr. Antoni Esteve. The DEMCAT project promotes the creation of a comprehensive online dictionary of medicine and health sciences in the Catalan language, renewed and adapted to the new information technologies, values, interests and needs of today’s society. In addition to facilitating the permanent updating of content, the digital format makes it possible to adapt and viability in new future scenarios.