Children living with HIV in Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania are set to benefit from a medical trial that aims to produce sweet tasting anti-retroviral remedies meant for children.
The drug which is in the form of soluble pellets that can be sprinkled on porridge, yoghurt or food does not require refrigeration.
According to Dr Olawale Salami, the Clinical Project Manager (Paediatric HIV) of Nairobi based Drugs for Neglected Diseases initiative – Africa, for a long time children have been using sour tasting syrup which has hindered effective administration of these life-saving remedies.
“The old remedy needed to be put in a refrigerator, the syrup is bitter and children often spit it out and the tablet is big and hard to swallow for children,” he notes.
However, research and development of these children-friendly HIV drugs have been hampered by low commercial interest from international pharmaceutical companies, making paediatric HIV a neglected disease.
Dr Olawale has noted that the test and delivery of LOPINAVIR/RITONAVIR, commonly abbreviated as LVPr is expected to be released in 2019, although WHO has given preliminary use in selected countries including Kenya.
An improved first-line therapy for children under 3 years of age, he says would ideally be safe, easy to administer, well-tolerated and palatable, heat-stable, readily dispersible, and dosed once daily or less.
Paediatric HIV is a major issue in Kenya as well as around the world. There were 2.1 million children living with HIV in 2016 with at least 160,000 children getting newly infected in the same year.
It is also estimated that 300 child deaths occur every day with nearly 90 percent of cases being in sub-Saharan Africa.
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