Washington/Mexico City - Far greater research on medicines
for HIV-infected children is needed to prevent them from dying, the
medical humanitarian organization Medecins Sans Frontieres (Doctors
Without Borders, MSF) said Tuesday.
'So few children are born with HIV in developed countries that
research into paediatric formulations is not a priority for
pharmaceutical companies,' said Karen Day, pharmacist co-ordinator at
MSF's Campaign for Access to Essential Medicines.
Appropriate AIDS drugs for children are hard to come by,
especially in poorer countries.
'Most of the drugs currently available are ill-adapted for use in
resource-limited settings, as they are either powders that need to be
mixed with water or bitter-tasting syrups that also require
refrigeration,' Day said.
'For the newly approved drugs, we have no safety data for use in
children,' Day told delegates at the XVII International AIDS
Conference in Mexico City, where MSF launched a report, 'Running in
Place: Too Many Patients Still in Urgent Need of HIV/AIDS Treatment.'
In the last five years, MSF has put 4,000 children under age 5 on
antiretrovirals. While 79 per cent of them remain on treatment, data
revealed that children less than 12 months of age were much less
likely to survive, highlighting the critical need for early
diagnoses.
'Children are not only fighting against AIDS, they are fighting
against time. Without treatment, half of the children born with HIV
will die before they reach their second birthday,' said Fernando
Parreno, a paediatrician for MSF in Zimbabwe.
Helena Huerga of MSF in Kenya said: 'Medicines alone are not
enough to keep children living with HIV/AIDS alive. They and their
caregivers need to receive psychosocial support along with their
treatment and care, especially as they grow into adolescence and
beyond.'
MSF provides antiretroviral therapy in 27 countries to more than
140,000 people, including 10,000 children.
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