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From: [log in to unmask] [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf
Of UNNews
Sent: Friday, April 30, 2010 11:11 AM
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Subject: NEW ONLINE GUIDE ON CHILDREN'S MEDICINES COULD SAVE 9 MILLION LIVES
ANNUALLY - UN
NEW ONLINE GUIDE ON CHILDREN'S MEDICINES COULD SAVE 9 MILLION LIVES ANNUALLY
- UN
New York, Apr 30 2010 11:10AM
Two United Nations agencies have released a new
<"http://www.who.int/medicines/publications/sources_prices/en/index.html">on
line guide on where to procure essential medicines formulated for children,
a tool which could potentially prevent nine million child deaths from
preventable and treatable causes every year.
"Improved availability and access to safe child-specific medicines is still
far from reality for many children in poor countries," said Hans Hogerzeil,
Director of Essential Medicines and Pharmaceutical Policies at the UN World
Health Organization
(<"http://www.who.int/mediacentre/news/notes/2010/children_medicine_20100429
/en/index.html">WHO).
The "one-of-its-kind publication," he added, "will be useful for
organizations and personnel involved in procurement to identify where
medicines may be found and what they cost."
The edition of <I>Sources and Prices of Selected Medicines for Children</I>,
released by WHO and the UN Children's Fund
(<"http://www.unicef.org/supply/index_47129.html">UNICEF), will help doctors
and organizations obtain some of the 240 essential medicines than can save
children's lives. It also offers details on therapeutic food, and vitamin
and mineral supplements, to treat major childhood illnesses and diseases.
"While effective medicines exist to fight disease and treat life-threatening
conditions like malnutrition, formulations suitable for children are often
difficult to source," said Francisco Blanco, Chief of Medicines & Nutrition
of UNICEF's Supply Division.
"The data in this edition confirms that much more research and effort needs
to be made to make medicines for children more available and accessible for
those who need them most."
When children's medicines are hard to find, parents and medical
professionals sometimes use fractions of adult dosage forms or prepare
makeshift prescriptions of medicines by crushing tablets or dissolving
portions of capsules in water, the agencies noted in a news release.
"This is not always safe or effective as the dose will not be accurate,"
they stated, adding that other challenges include the need for more clinical
trials and research to be carried out on paediatric medicines.
WHO recommends that wherever possible, medicines for children should be
provided as flexible, solid, oral dosage forms that can be administered in a
liquid when it is given to the sick child. Liquid formulations are more
expensive to purchase compared with dispersible tablets and are also more
costly to store, package, and transport safely.
According to the guide, there are several sources for children's medicines
and treatments to address opportunistic infections, palliative care, pain
and pneumonia. The availability of paediatric formulations for treatments
for malaria, maternal and newborn care, and tuberculosis was fair.
In addition, it notes that the number of sources is limited for the
paediatric treatment of diarrhoea and HIV/AIDS, and there is still a serious
challenge to obtain child-specific medicines to treat tropical infections
endemic in Africa and Asia.
The guide ranks the availability of the identified medicines, and notes that
75 per cent of the formulations included are available for purchase.
Apr 30 2010 11:10AM
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