Urgent need to reach HIV-infected children: doctors

Children who are HIV positive read brochures on ''living positively'' while visiting a clinic on the outskirts of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, in this November 30, 2005 file photo. There is an urgent need to treat millions of HIV-infected children in poor areas of the world by developing drugs that are easier to administer and improving medical training, the American Academy of Pediatrics said on Monday.

CHICAGO (Reuters) - There is an urgent need to treat millions of HIV-infected children in poor areas of the world by developing drugs that are easier to administer and improving medical training, the American Academy of Pediatrics said on Monday.

A combination of three of more drugs can cut death rates from AIDS by fivefold or more and allow 90 percent of infected children to survive to adulthood, the group said. Yet as many as 3.5 million children, mostly in sub-Saharan Africa, are infected but largely untreated.

The North American pediatricians group issued a policy statement saying there was a "critical and urgent need for provision of antiretroviral therapy to HIV-infected children globally."

Most of the HIV infections are transmitted mother-to-child during pregnancy, delivery or breast feeding, it said. But fewer than 10 percent of pregnant women worldwide are offered HIV testing, antiretroviral treatment before and just after they give birth or safe alternatives to breast feeding.

The policy statement called for widespread training of medical personnel in how to deal with HIV-infected children.

"Lack of availability of appropriate antiretroviral drug formulations that are easily usable and inexpensive is a major impediment to optimal care for children with HIV," it said.

"The time and energy spent trying to develop liquid antiretroviral formulations might be better used in the manufacture of smaller pill sizes or crushable tablets, which are easier to dispense, transport, store and administer to children," it added.

The policy statement was endorsed by a number of individuals and organizations, including the World Health Organization, the Indian Academy of Pediatrics, the Latin American Pediatric Association and Britain's Royal College of Pediatrics and Child Health.