| Minister calls for single syrup for HIV victims | Send to a friend |
| Sunday, 02 May 2010 22:00 |
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Drug manufacturers have been asked to develop a syrup, made from a combination of appropriate drugs, which will be ideal for children who have been infected with HIV. The deputy minister for Community Development, Gender and Children, Ms Lucy Nkya, made the call late last week when launching a national campaign to end paediatric Aids. Currently, children with such a problem are forced to use three different drugs for treatment, a situation which health practitioners describe as complicated. Development of a single combination syrup for infected children would reduce complications for users, as well as help reduce the number of children who die of Aids. According to available statistics, 21,500 out of 43,300 children infected with HIV die before their second birthday, 14,450 die before their fifth, while the rest need life-long treatment. The campaign is being spearheaded by Human Development Trust (HDT), in collaboration with the Association of Journalists Against Aids (AJAAT). According to deputy minister Lucy Nkya, the current paediatric medication is administered in separate formulations which becomes cumbersome when compared to having a fixed combination for convenience. The organisers explained that the campaign was aimed at pressurising the government and other stakeholders to ensure that 80 per cent of the children born to HIV-infected mothers were safe from Mother to Child infection. The campaign is also meant to ensure that mechanisms are put in place to ensure the availability of a fixed-dose combination syrup in all centres that provide Prevention of Mother to Child Transmission (PMTCT) services. The HDT executive director, Dr Peter Bujari, said the campaign was very important because of the seriousness of the problem where, according to statistics, 90 percent of 59,000 infants are infected by their mothers. “We decided to start the campaign so as to join a national effort to make sure that no child gets HIV transmission from his mother,” he said. Dr Bujari said the company was also aiming at pressurising the government to increase funds allocated for PMTCT services in order to prevent the use of huge amounts of money directed towards taking care of infected infants. He said the problem would be manageable if infected women could get enough services that include rapid diagnostic tests and medicines to prevent them from transmitting the virus to infants. The doctor said the growing number of infected infants was caused by an acute shortage of PCMTC services, with only 30,000 out of 500,000 health facilities providing the service. He noted that the situation means 50 percent of women, especially those from rural areas, do not have access to such services. He quoted statistics as showing that only six out of ten women access the PMTCT services through the 12.5 per cent of health facilities which offer the services. Dr Bujari explained that HDT decided to start campaigning on behalf of the children because they were not capable of defending their own rights. Tanzania has joined five other countries in the campaign for policy makers to increase resources in the area. The campaign includes calling for funds to fight transmission and help “save the innocent lives in Tanzania.” Other countries engaged in the campaign include Uganda, Kenya, Mozambique, Nigeria and Zimbabwe. AJAAT director Mr Simon Kivamwo said PMTCT initiative was important as it enabled people to acquire knowledge on how to prevent the virus from infecting children. He pointed out that PMTCT also encouraged men attend mother and child health clinics (MCH) where they could acquire knowledge on how to take care of their families. Add this page to your favorite Social Bookmarking websites           |
