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Following the launch of new World
Health Organization (WHO) HIV treatment guidelines at the 7th International
AIDS Society Conference, paediatric experts have called for efforts to increase
early diagnosis in children and to develop anti-HIV drugs that are easier to
take.
The new WHO guidelines recommend
that all HIV-positive children under the age of five should start treatment
immediately. Children aged five and over, who have a CD4 cell count below 500
cells/mm3, are also recommended to start treatment.
The key barrier to early treatment
for children is the failure to diagnose HIV in the first weeks after birth.
Experts suggest that integrating HIV testing into the work of immunisation
clinics – where over 80% of mothers in sub-Saharan Africa will take their
infants – would be a big step towards increasing diagnosis. Improving health
information systems would also contribute, as diagnoses may be missed if
healthcare notes don’t record that a baby has been exposed to HIV.
Better integration of adult and
child HIV care, with more staff trained in paediatric care, could increase the
number of children starting HIV treatment. Two million children in low- and
middle-income countries already eligible for treatment are not yet getting it,
and the new guidelines will increase the number of eligible children by 750,000.
Increased awareness in local
communities of HIV, its symptoms and treatment for children would help increase
testing and treatment rates – many parents do not understand that their child
may have HIV even if they are not yet ill.
Experts attending a satellite
meeting on treatment access for children agreed that the development of new
drugs suitable for children will be essential to increasing treatment take-up.
Not all anti-HIV drugs are available in formulations suitable for children,
some are difficult to take, and there are no fixed-dose combinations for
children. Development of new formulations is happening, with the hope they will
be licensed by 2015.
“Getting from the recommendations
[of the WHO guidelines] to actual implementation and treatment access will
require the full support of donors, international and national regulatory
authorities, national HIV programmes, civil society, and people living with HIV
themselves,” said Dr Marc Lallemant, Head of Drugs for Neglected Diseases
Initiative’s Paediatric HIV Programme.
The Friends of AIDS Foundation is
dedicated to enhancing the quality of life for HIV positive individuals and
empowering people to make healthy choices to prevent the spread of the HIV
virus.
To learn more about The Friends of
AIDS Foundation, please visit: http://www.friendsofaids.org.
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