WHO and UNICEF tackle problem of lack of essential medicines for children

GENEVA - The first international Expert Consultation on Paediatric
Essential Medicines, jointly held by the World Health Organization (WHO)
and the United Nation’s Children’s Fund (UNICEF), has delivered a plan to
boost access to essential medicines for children.

"Children are often hailed as the hope and future of humanity, but they
don't benefit enough from pharmaceutical research and technology," said Dr
Howard Zucker, Assistant-Director General at WHO. "Too often, the right
medicines for children, in the right dosages and formulations are missing
from the spectrum of available treatment options. WHO and UNICEF will work quickly with partners to change this."

Ten million children die every year, many of them from diarrhoea,
HIV/AIDS, malaria, respiratory tract infection or pneumonia. Effective
interventions - classified on WHO's list of essential medicines - exist
for these illnesses but there's a lack of knowledge of how best to use
these medicines in children, and a lack of paediatric formulations of
them.

During two days of intensive discussion held 9-10 August at WHO's
headquarters in Geneva, a mix of more than 20 developed and developing
countries, non-governmental organizations including Médecins Sans
Frontières, regulatory agencies, UNICEF and WHO staff prioritized a
long-needed approach to overall paediatric care.

A top priority resulting from the meeting is to dramatically expand access
to much needed child-focused formulations such as fixed dose combinations
(several pills in one), crucial for children's correct use of medicines
and treatment adherence.

The plan also calls for the improvement of medicines and prescribing
guidelines addressing the entire range of infant and child care needs.
Priorities include respiratory infections, neonatal care, palliative care
for end stage AIDS, for HIV/TB co-infection and for other opportunistic
infections, and improved electronic access to the latest WHO drug
information.

The WHO Expert Consultation warned that without a model of best practice
guidelines and paediatric formulations, and a buy-in at national levels
right down to local care centres, then children - who in many countries
make up half of the population - will continue to be considered as
therapeutic orphans.

"For example, it is worrying to see so very few medicines suitable for
children in resource-poor settings where there is enormous need. For these
children, we must address cost issues and ensure the right medicine
formulations exist", said Dr Hans Hogerzeil, WHO's Director for Medicines
Policy and Standards. "The expert consultation was unanimous in its
support for urgent, specific actions, which will significantly improve the
chances for children to access the right medicines."

According to Hanne Bak Pedersen, Senior Adviser Pharmaceutical Policy,
UNICEF Supply Division, "UNICEF is concerned that children's access to
medicines is very low in many resource limited settings. Furthermore,
there is a lack of availability of several paediatric formulations. Based
on the work of this new project and WHO clinical recommendations, UNICEF
Supply Division will strengthen and expand the dialogue with industry on
paediatric formulations for HIV/AIDS to promote the development of the
missing medicines for children."

High priority will be placed on ensuring a holistic approach to child care
and treatment, including addressing quality of life issues such as
producing painless remedies over injections, better tasting medications
and investigating new mini tablet presentations.

Emphasis will also be placed on considering the climate zone requirements
linked to distribution and use whenever new product formulations are made.
For example, chewable or soluble powders are preferred over syrups as they
do not require refrigeration and are less bulky to transport.

The plan will immediately be sent to countries for feedback on how best to
implement the recommendations at the local level. In addition, WHO will
consider several children's medicines for inclusion in the WHO Essential
Medicines List in March 2007.

For more information contact:

Dr Suzanne Hill
Medical Officer
WHO
Telephone: +41 22 791 35 22
Mobile phone: +41 79 815 79 21
E-mail: hills@who.int

Ms Hanne Bak Pedersen
Senior Adviser Pharmaceutical Policy
UNICEF
Telephone: +45 35 27 30 60
Mobile phone: +45 24 69 46 72
E-mail: hpedersen@unicef.org

14 August 2006
Source: WHO.int