https://www.icrc.org/en/who-we-are/history

When I posted this in December 2016 there were over 5,300,000 entries just in the English language Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page

Though, of course, the quality of entries, varies, and one has to read everything critically, many Wikipedia articles are the best encyclopedia entries on the subjects concerned, and, of course, they are free to all.

• 1.Big picture
  • 1.1Late 1700s–1930s (pre-WWII era)
  • 1.21940s–early 1960s (post-WWII era)
  • 1.3Late 1960s–1970s
  • 1.41980s–2000
  • 1.52000s and beyond
• 2.Full timeline
  • 2.1Inclusion criteria
  • 2.2Timeline
• 3.See also
  • 3.1General
  • 3.2Disease timelines
  • 3.3Healthcare by country
  • 3.4Others
• 4.References

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_global_health, accessed 12-2016).

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WHO_Model_List_of_Essential_Medicines (accessed 12-2016).

The first list, published in 1977, included 204 pharmaceutical drugs.^[1] The WHO updates the list every two years. The WHO later added a separate WHO Model List of Essential Medicines for Children up to 12 years of age.

As of 2016, at least 156 countries have created national lists of essential medicines based on the WHO's model list.^[2] The national lists contain between 334 and 580 medications.^[3]