Pediatrics Academy urges smaller pills, more accessible meds for youths

CHICAGO -- The American Academy of Pediatrics says more child-friendly HIV drugs are needed, including smaller pills and three-in-one tablets for children, to help address a crisis affecting more than 2 million youngsters globally.

In a new policy statement endorsed by 19 international groups including the World Health Organization, the academy outlines barriers and solutions to an issue that is critical in developing regions.

In parts of Africa, AIDS kills about half of HIV-infected children before they reach the age of 2, said Dr. Peter Havens, chairman of an academy AIDS committee. By contrast, about 98 percent of HIV-infected U.S. children are expected to live to adulthood and have nearly normal life spans, thanks to readily available virus-fighting drugs, Havens said.

Some HIV drugs come as bottled liquids that require refrigeration. That poses a problem in rural countries, where some families travel for days by foot to get several months' supply of bottled medicine that weighs as much as the infected child, said Havens, an infectious disease specialist at the Medical College of Wisconsin.

-- AP