International Community Must Do More To Treat HIV-Positive Children
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Coalition Calls For Child-Focused Treatment, Research And Investment
Only one child in 20 who needs HIV treatment receives it, according to a report released by seven of the world’s leading child advocacy organizations. The Global Movement for Children issued an urgent appeal for the international community to recognize that children with HIV and AIDS have a right to treatment that must be addressed to save their lives and beat the epidemic.
Saving Lives: Children’s right to HIV and AIDS treatment, the Global Movement for Children report, reveals that despite an urgent need for paediatric treatment, alarmingly few drugs are available in formulations that are affordable and able to be administered to children while the development of new drugs continues to focus mainly on adults.
“As host of this year’s International AIDS Conference, Canada should take the lead in adopting the steps outlined in this report,” said Robert Fox, executive director of Oxfam Canada. “We must increase aid to strengthen health systems in poor countries, so that every child has access to prevention measures, treatment and care.”
As of June 2005, an estimated four million children were in need of Cotrimoxazole, a readily available antibiotic costing only $.03 per day per child. Cotrimoxazole prevents life-threatening infections in HIV-positive children, and infants born to HIV-positive mothers. It can also delay the onset of AIDS and the need for anti-retroviral therapy.
While it is true that the majority of people living with HIV are adults, HIV-positive children represent a disproportionate number of those needing immediate treatment. More than 90 per cent of children with HIV live in sub-Saharan Africa; these children also have the least access to any treatment. But in the current profit-driven climate of drug development, they offer little financial incentive to the pharmaceutical industry, the report states. As a result, despite an urgent need for paediatric formulations of anti-retroviral therapy (ART) in developing countries, child-appropriate treatment is practically non-existent.
The GMC report calls for specific steps, including:
- Develop and make available simple and affordable diagnostic tests.
- Increase research and development for child-specific treatment.
- Improve health care systems of developing countries to improve drug delivery systems.
- Establish child-specific treatment targets.
While ensuring that all HIV-positive children have access to treatment will save lives, prevention of infection is crucial. According to the report, 90 per cent of HIV-positive children are infected by a failure to prevent mother-to-child transmission (PMTCT) in the first place. The report cites evidence showing that providing a mother with a full range of PMTCT services can reduce the risk of transmission to less than two per cent. Currently, less than ten per cent of HIV-positive women receive drug therapies to prevent transmission of the virus to their infants.
Significant progress has been made in treating HIV and AIDS since the virus was first identified 25 years ago, but along the way children have been overlooked. Children affected by HIV and AIDS have a right to equal access to treatment and care; without any significant increases in funding these rights will not be met.
“This report underscores the need for children to have a strong voice at this summer’s International AIDS Conference. The Canadian government must work with NGOs and international leaders to ensure children are prioritized when funding and the right to treatment are being discussed,” said Dave Toycen, president and CEO of World Vision Canada.
The Global Movement for Children is the world-wide movement of organizations and people – including children – uniting efforts to build a world fit for all children.
Saving Lives: Children’s Right to HIV and AIDS treatment is available at http://www.gmfc.org
@ May 27, 2006