[Ip-health] BMJ: Half a million children a year die of AIDS through lack of drugs

[Julian]

It is tragic that so many children die every year of preventable and
treatable diseases. According to the WHO the number is approximately 10
million. The majority of these premature deaths are the result of diseases
that could be prevented through simple interventions, such as improved
sanitation and the supply of clean water -- at a cost of perhaps $10 per
person. Whingeing about R&D isn't going to solve those problems.

So, it seems clear that priorities need to be set: and I don't know about
you Nathan but I would prefer my tax money to be spent on these low cost
interventions and on improving the delivery of medicines in poor countries
rather than on subsidising the development of medicines that aren't going
to be delivered to most of those who need them. (Though I remain skeptical
that my tax money will actually be spent on anything so useful: most aid
money seems to end up supporting the very corrupt and incompetent regimes
that causes the poverty and ill-health in the first place.)

In terms of improving access to medicines, clearly more needs to be done
to remove the many barriers -- from unjustified regulatory barriers to
taxes and tariffs, price controls, and lack of health infrastructure --
that prevent medicines getting to those who need them. These are big
issues that aren't going to be solved with the creation of some grandiose
"R&D Treaty". You're barking up the wrong tree -- and in so doing you are
distracting attention from the real killers: the corrupt governments in
poor countries who have erected these barriers to treatment. Shame on all
of you who are pushing these stupid ideas.

Julian

>
> Another clear example of why a 'more of the same' approach to R&D is not
> good enough.
>
>
> 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."
>
>
> -----------
>
> 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.
>
>
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