Treat the Children

http://www.globalaidsalliance.org/Treat_the_Children.cfm

A new advocacy brief from the Global AIDS Alliance lays out a series of specific
recommendations to accelerate treatment access for the roughly 660,000 children
in urgent need of lifesaving antiretroviral medications.

There are now 2.3 million children under the age of 15 living with HIV/AIDS, and
roughly 700,000 children are infected each year, most of them during pregnancy,
birth, or subsequent breast feeding. But few children in developing countries
are receiving treatment that has proven effective in halting the progression of
HIV disease.

QUICK FACTS:

* 660,000 children are in urgent need of ART, 270,000 of whom are younger than
18 months.

* Children represent only 6% of overall HIV infections, yet they account for
17% of deaths due to AIDS.

* 80% of HIV-positive children die by age 5 without treatment, and 80% are
alive at age 6 with ARV treatment.

* 1,400 children die needlessly of AIDS every day.

Titled "Treat the Children: Accelerating Action for Universal Antiretroviral
Treatment for Children in Resource-Limited Countries by 2010," GAA's report
marks the launch of a new advocacy campaign to persuade key stakeholders such as
the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB and Malaria and UNICEF to ensure that at least
15% of all people on ARV treatment are children. The campaign is also calling
for the Global Fund to focus its next round of grants (Round 6) on pediatric
AIDS treatment.

In developing countries, less than 5% of pregnant women with HIV/AIDS
receive treatment to prevent mother-to-child transmission. And few programs
provide treatment for children already infected with the virus. According to the
World Health Organization (WHO), child deaths due to AIDS could be reduced by
half simply by administering an antibiotic called cotrimoxazole, which treats
opportunistic infections and costs under $10 per child annually.

The treatment of HIV-positive children has been neglected for a variety of
reasons. Perhaps most important, drugs made in pediatric dosages are not widely
available and are too expensive for many developing countries. In addition,
treatment often cannot be started promptly because confirmation of pediatric HIV
infection is difficult and expensive. In fact, most children with HIV/AIDS die
undiagnosed before their second birthday.

GAA's report outlines specific recommendations for action in a number of areas,
including:

* Increasing the accessibility of diagnostic tests, accelerating the
development of affordable pediatric ARV formulations;

* Conducting additional research and developing concrete guidelines for
pediatric ARV treatment;

* Leveraging existing financial incentives for the production of pediatric
formulations;

* Encouraging the adoption of integrated family care models for treating
children with HIV/AIDS;

* Training health care workers to treat children;

* Strengthening the infrastructure required for diagnosis and treatment of AIDS
in children; and

* Monitoring and holding stakeholders accountable for achieving results.

Click here to download a PDF file of GAA's advocacy brief
<http://www.globalaidsalliance.org/docs/GAA_Treat_the_Children_Advocacy_Brief_Ju\
ly_29_2005.pdf> .

www.globalaidsalliance.org