Children dying for lack of child-sized drugs: WHO

By Ben Hirschler

LONDON (Reuters) - Children are dying for lack of drugs tailored to their needs, according to the World Health Organization (WHO), which launched a global campaign on Thursday to promote more research into child medicine.

More than half the drugs currently used to treat children in the industrialized world have not been specifically tested on youngsters, even though they metabolize medicines differently to adults.

As a result, clinicians lack clear guidelines on the best drug to use and often have to guess at the correct dose.

The problem is even worse in developing countries where price remains a major barrier and 6 million children die each year from treatable conditions.

In the case of HIV/AIDS, the few existing pediatric therapies developed for children generally cost three times more than adult ones.

In a bid to address the problem, the WHO has drawn up the first international List of Essential Medicines for Children, containing 206 products deemed safe for children that tackle 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 Dr Hans Hogerzeil, the U.N. agency's director of medicines policy and standards.

Medicines that need to be adapted to children's needs include many antibiotics, as well as asthma and pain drugs. The WHO also wants more research and development of combination pills for HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria.