New Zealand Universal List of Medicines

A service of the NZ Ministry of Health.

What is the NZULM?

The New Zealand Universal List of Medicines is the standard source of commonly-used information about medicines in New Zealand.

It is the primary naming and coding database for medicines in the NZ health sector, and is used in most medical and pharmacy software.

It was first officially released for use in 2011, and is free to use.

It is a dictionary of trusted, standardised information covering:

  • the official, standardised name of a medicine;
  • the official code-number of a medicine (or part thereof);
  • whether a medicine is approved for use in New Zealand;
  • what restrictions, if any, apply;
  • whether it is subsidised and the level of subsidy; and
  • any conditions that apply.

It also incudes:

  • products listed in PHARMAC’s Hospital Medicines List,
  • medicines supplied under Section 29 of the Medicines Act, and
  • some commonly available natural remedies.

The NZULM Explained in Just Two Minutes

Using This Website

Please note that this website is merely a window into the information available in NZULM.

It is not a prescribing or dispensing tool, nor does it provide clinical decision support to clinicians. For the latter, please visit nzformulary.org

Medicine Sponsors

Suppliers of medicines will find information on our Sponsors page that explains why you need an NZMT Listing and how to apply for one.

Developers

Software Architects and Developers will find Documentation that explains how to obtain the NZULM and how to use it.

NZ Medicines Terminology (NZMT)

The NZULM is built on top of the NZMT, which follows the SNOMED International conventions for describing medicines so that medicines are always described the same way regardless of the software being used.

The SNOMED SCTID numbering system forms the backbone of the NZMT and allows for accurate data exchange throughout the sector.

NZ Formulary

The NZULM does NOT provide clinical decision support information.

This is instead provided by the NZ Formulary, which adds clinical information and things like “known drug-drug interactions” on top of the NZULM.

To find out more please visit nzformulary.org

NZF logo

How To Access The NZULM

The NZULM is free to use and is embedded in most software systems throughout the NZ Health Sector.

It is also available as a free set of downloadable data to approved users and vendors. To get monthly copies of this dataset please email [email protected].

You can make ad-hoc queries of the NZULM via the search facility on this website.

Status Of The NZULM

NZULM information is continuously updated under strict quality assurance processes.

We Appreciate Your Feedback

We want to know what works for you and what you think can and needs to be improved and why. Please email your comments and suggestions to [email protected]. Thanks.