By Someshwar Singh, IANS
Geneva : For India, which reports one of the highest child mortality rates in the world, a new WHO campaign to promote medicines more suited for children should come as great news.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) has launched a new R&D agenda to promote such medicines and prevent nearly six million child deaths annually.
“Some of the highest child mortality rates are to be found in India and the central African region,” said Hans V. Hogerzeil, WHO director of medicines policy and standards.
Estimates by Unicef for 2006 place the number of deaths of children under the age of five in India to close to two million annually. It notes that despite health improvements over the last 30 years, lives continue to be lost to early childhood diseases, inadequate newborn care and childbirth-related causes.
It is estimated that each year about 10 million children do not reach their fifth birthday. About six million of these children die of treatable conditions and could be saved with safe, essential child-specific medicines.
In industrialised countries, more than half the children are prescribed medicines dosed for adults and not authorised for use in children. In developing countries, the problem is compounded by lower access to medicines.
Each year, pneumonia alone causes nearly two million deaths in children under five and HIV kills 330,000 children under 15.
“These illnesses can be treated but many children don’t stand a chance because the medicines are either not appropriate for their age, don’t reach them or are priced too high – up to three times the price of adult drugs,” said Howard Zucker, WHO assistant director general.
The WHO today released the first international list of Essential Medicines for Children. It contains 206 medicines that are deemed safe for children and address priority conditions.
“But a lot remains to be done. There are priority medicines that have not been adapted for children’s use or are not available when needed,” said Hogerzeil.
This new drive to streamline paediatric medicines seeks to bring all stakeholders together to close the identified gaps, including production by generic manufacturers. Some of the challenges that need to be overcome include new regulatory requirements as only adult medicines are regulated currently.
There also need to be safety and toxicity lists and simplification of registration for effective and safe medicines. While greater competition could bring down prices, manufacturers will have to feel confident in investing in these new medicines and financing arrangements like UNITAID – taxing airline tickets for healthcare – would need to be thought of, WHO officials pointed out.
At the annual 2007 World Health Assembly, the WHO member states passed a resolution on ‘Better medicines for children’. It seeks to promote more research and development into paediatric medicines and to improve knowledge on the quality, effectiveness and safety of these medicines.