This edition coming almost seven years after the 2003 fourth revision is a welcome leap from the past because there is need for the country to catch up with practices world-wide. Health practitioners and their students can now heave a sigh of relief with the hope that the next review will not be as delayed as this one.

Recent developments in the country suggest that the health of Nigerians is being put on the front burner of policies and these leave room for optimism: guinea worm eradication has been achieved. Nigeria is on the verge of being declared polio-free. There are indications that the high maternal and infant mortality may be truly on the decline due to the recent strategies devised to meet the targets of the Millennium Development Goals.A National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) has been launched and its practice is now widespread and gaining greater acceptance. Finally, about two years ago, the country published its first which, from all indications, has been well circulated and accepted.

This fifth review was primarily directed at ensuring that the medicines in the Standard Treatment Guidelines and the Essential Medicines List are harmonized. In addition this review takes care of the new antimalarial drug policy as well as current practices with regards to HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis/Leprosy treatment policies and other special services. The hope therefore is that this edition will reflect positively on the efforts to make Nigerians healthier at the minimum cost to individuals and governments at all levels.

The fifth review and the STG are the products of the hard work put in by the National Drugs Formulary & Essential Drugs Review Committee under the directives of the Foods & Drugs Division of the Federal Ministry of Health and the invaluable contribution of the Country Office of the World Health Organization...