MSF réclame des traitements anti-sida adaptés pour les enfants pauvres
NAIROBI, 28 nov (AFP)
Médecins sans frontières (MSF) a appelé lundi l'industrie pharmaceutique à
mettre au point des traitements et des tests adaptés et "abordables" pour
les enfants malades du sida dans les pays pauvres, faute de quoi des
"millions" d'entre eux continueront à mourir avant l'âge de deux ans.
"Une des raisons pour lesquelles la moitié des enfants avec le VIH/sida
meurent avant l'âge de deux ans est que l'industrie pharmaceutique ne
produit pas de versions de leurs médicaments adaptés pour eux. (...) Il y a
aussi un énorme besoin pour des tests VIH simples et abordables pour les
bébés qui vivent dans des familles pauvres", affirme MSF dans un communiqué
publié à Nairobi.
"Le personnel médical est souvent obligé de concasser des pilules destinées
aux adultes. Tout en étant moins efficace, le sous-dosage peut provoquer une
résistance du virus au traitement, alors que le sur-dosage peut être toxique
pour les plus jeunes patients", poursuit l'organisation non-gouvernementale
(ONG), qui fournit des anti-rétroviraux notamment au Kenya.
"En outre, les quelques médicaments destinés aux enfants et qui existent
sous forme de sirops et de poudre sont peu pratiques (...). Certains doivent
être gardés dans un réfrigérateur, d'autres nécessitent de l'eau potable,
deux choses que l'on ne trouve pas souvent dans les familles pauvres",
ajoute MSF.
"Dans les pays occidentaux, la transmission du VIH de la mère à l'enfant est
évitée à 99% (...). C'est loin d'être le cas dans les pays en
développement", rappelle MSF.
"Neuf enfants sur dix nés avec le sida vivent en Afrique. Dans la mesure où
il y a peu de bénéfice à tirer de la recherche et du développement de tests
et de médicaments pour les enfants dans les pays pauvres, peu de sociétés
investissent dans ce domaine", dénonce l'ONG, qui appelle "à une
augmentation importante" des moyens de la recherche.
E-DRUG: MSF: Drug companies neglect children with AIDS
----------------------------------------------------
Please be sure to follow this link
http://www.doctorswithoutborders.org/news/hiv-aids/wad2005/index_wad2005.cfm
in order to:
- See what pharmaceutical companies need to do to develop child-friendly
versions of AIDS medicines (there is a useful chart with contact information
for companies)
- View the stories of people living with HIV/AIDS enrolled in the MSF
program in Kibera slum in Nairobi, Kenya
- View a map of MSF's HIV/AIDS programs
- Watch a video on pediatric HIV/AIDS
- Find additional information about MSF and HIV/AIDS
Thanks,
Rachel
Rachel Cohen, MSF
Rachel COHEN <rachel.cohen@newyork.msf.org>
--
WORLD AIDS DAY 2005 - DECEMBER 1
For Immediate Release
Contact:
New York Kris Torgeson, +1-212-655-3764
Nairobi James Lorenz, ++254-722 51 3981
DRUG COMPANIES LEAVE CHILDREN WITH AIDS TO FEND FOR THEMSELVES:
WITHOUT PROPER TESTS AND DRUGS, MILLIONS OF CHILDREN WILL NOT LIVE TO SEE
THEIR SECOND BIRTHDAY
Nairobi/New York, November 28, 2005 --One of the reasons that half of all
children with HIV/AIDS die before the age of two is that pharmaceutical
companies are not making child-friendly versions of their anti-AIDS drugs.
Today, Doctors Without Borders/Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) calls on
companies to make easy-to-use versions for children of all their AIDS
medicines to help prolong and improve the lives of more children with
HIV/AIDS. There is also a desperate need for simple and affordable AIDS
tests for babies in resource-poor settings.
'MSF is giving antiretroviral medicines to nearly 800 children living with
HIV/AIDS here in Kenya,' said Rachel Thomas, MD, medical coordinator of the
MSF project in Kibera, Nairobi. 'The results are very good, but it's an
uphill battle. In the absence of child-strength pills that combine all
needed drugs in one tablet, medical staff and caregivers are often
forced to crush combination pills meant for adults.' In addition to being
less effective, under-dosing may lead to the virus becoming resistant to
the treatment, whereas overdosing can be toxic for these youngest patients.
In addition, the few drugs that do exist in syrup or powder formulations
intended for children are impractical to use: a child must take three
different quantities of three different and often foul-tasting syrups. Some
drugs require refrigeration, others clean water, both of which are often
not available in resource-poor settings.
Based on the encouraging results from treating adults with HIV/AIDS since
2001, MSF is committed to providing even the youngest patients in
developing countries with life-extending treatment. Although 75% of the
1,300 Kenyan children currently receiving antiretrovirals get them through
MSF programs, it is estimated that 17,000 more children in the country need
treatment now.
Existing tests to detect the virus in children are unaffordable or
impractical in resource-poor settings, and the routine test available in
poor countries is useless in babies younger than 18 months because their
blood still contains antibodies from the mother. The test does not indicate
whether the antibodies are the baby's or the mother's.
In western countries, mother-to-child transmission of HIV is avoided in 99%
of the cases, and babies can be tested early on and put on treatment in
time. This is far from the reality in developing countries.
The needs are enormous, and MSF is only touching the tip of the iceberg.
But as long as there is no simple and affordable diagnostic test to detect
the virus in a newborn, and as long as there are limited treatments
specifically made for children, babies will keep dying before they reach
their second birthday. MSF teams have been urging companies to make
child-strength pills, but the response to date has been entirely
inadequate.
Nine out of ten children born with HIV live in Africa. As there is little
profit in researching and developing HIV/AIDS tests and medicines for
children in poor countries, few companies are investing in this area. MSF
is calling for a massive increase in research and development into tests
that can detect the virus in babies, and into simple child-strength pill
combinations. 'We don't yet have a cure, but AIDS is a treatable disease.
Many more young children could lead relatively normal lives with
appropriate tests and medicines, but millions of children are still
waiting' concluded Dr. Thomas.
MSF currently provides antiretroviral treatment (ART) to over 57,000 people
living with HIV/AIDS in 29 countries. Children make up 6% (3,500) of all
patients enrolled in MSF ART programs