|WHO, UNICEF Tackle Critical Lack of 'Child Size' Medicines|
Geneva - 21 January 2009 -- The World Health Organization (WHO)
has received a US$ 9.7 million grant from the Bill & Melinda
Gates Foundation to work with UNICEF to conduct crucial research
in children’s medicines, with the aim of increasing the number
of 'child size' medicines designed and formulated specifically
for children. Currently, many medicines are only designed for
adults. More than 50 percent of medicines prescribed for
children have either not been developed specifically for
children or have not been proven to be effective and safe for
their use. Therefore many children lack access to essential
treatment because no suitable paediatric dosage or formulation
of the necessary medicine exists, or those that do exist are not
available or are too expensive. "We must take the guess work out
of medicines for children," said Carissa Etienne, Assistant
Director-General, WHO. "Children are suffering and dying from
diseases we can treat, and yet we