E-DRUG: BMJ: Half a million children a year die of AIDS through lack of drugs
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Another clear example of why a 'more of the same' approach to R&D is not
good enough.
Nathan Ford
nathan.ford@london.msf.org
Last year nearly 700 000 children needed antiretroviral treatment to slow
the progression of their infections, but.. very few received it. In part it
blames the fact that "alarmingly few drugs are available in formulations
that are affordable and suitable for children."
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British Medical Journal, 26 May 2006
Half a million children a year die of AIDS through lack of drugs
Michael Day
London
Over half a million children die from AIDS each year for want of drugs that
cost as little as 2p a day, leading campaign groups have said.
Almost two and a half million children worldwide are infected with HIV, but
over 95% of them are not treated for their condition and most will die
before their fifth birthday, says the Global Movement for Children.
"The lack of treatment amounts to a death sentence for millions of
children," said Dean Hirsch, chairman of this coalition of non-governmental
organisations, which includes Oxfam and Unicef.
Mr Hirsch, who is also president of World Vision International, said that
unless urgent steps were taken to boost care of children with AIDS in the
developing world there would be no chance of meeting the key United Nations
target of halting and reversing the global spread of HIV by 2015.
The coalition's new report is calling for all children with HIV to be
treated by 2010 to cut drastically the annual death toll among children from
AIDS, which in 2005 stood at 570 000.
For this to happen, the report says, governments and international donors
must urgently commit themselves to increase their funding of paediatric HIV
services.
Last year nearly 700 000 children needed antiretroviral treatment to slow
the progression of their infections, but the report says that very few
received it. In part it blames the fact that "alarmingly few drugs are
available in formulations that are affordable and suitable for children."
In addition, many of the children are dying for want of much simpler
treatments. Cheap preventive treatment with the antibiotic co-trimoxazole
protects young children with HIV from opportunistic infections and delays
the onset of AIDS.
The report notes that at a cost of just 2p a day use of the drug in Zambia
has resulted in 43% drop in mortality among HIV infected children. However,
only a tiny minority of the millions of children around the world who needed
the drug last year actually received it.
Over 90% of HIV positive children live in sub-Saharan Africa, where access
to treatments that can prevent mother to child infection and prolong the
lives of infected children is extremely limited. As a result AIDS has
already caused infant mortality in Africa to rise by more than 19% since the
disease first appeared.
In addition to a commitment for all children to be treated by 2010, the
report calls for more child focused research and development and for more
specialist child health workers to be trained in the developing world.
The report was commissioned by some of the members of the coalition: ENDA
Tiers Monde, the Latin American and Caribbean Network for Children, NetAid,
Oxfam, Plan, Save the Children, Unicef, and World Vision.
Saving Lives: Children's Right to HIV and AIDS Treatment is available at
www.gmfc.org.