On 17 November, leaders from national and international organizations met in Vatican City to address concerns about securing early testing and treatment for children and adolescents living with HIV.
The meeting brought together leaders of major pharmaceutical and medical technology companies, multilateral organizations, donors, governments and organizations providing or supporting services for children living with HIV for a high-level dialogue.
The consultation saw a discussion on how to reduce illness and deaths among children living with HIV, particularly by accelerating the development and introduction of priority paediatric formulations of antiretroviral medicines. In contrast to the development of better antiretroviral medicines for adults living with HIV over the past 20 years, there have been very few new optimal medicines made available for children. Existing paediatric antiretroviral medicines are often bitter tasting, difficult to administer and inappropriate for low-resource settings.
In 2016, among the 2.1 million children aged 0–14 years living with HIV, 43% were accessing antiretroviral therapy, compared to 54% of adults living with HIV. The lack of suitable antiretroviral medicines for children has contributed in part to low levels of treatment initiation, retention in care and viral load suppression.
The participants made proposals to speed up the research, development, approval, introduction and uptake of medicines and formulations for infants, children and adolescents. These included steps to make priority medicines in the pipeline quickly available in the short term and innovative mechanisms to facilitate and accelerate the development of paediatric formulations for HIV and other life-threatening diseases over the longer term.
The meeting was convened by Peter Kodwo Appiah Turkson, Cardinal and Prefect of the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development, with the United States President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, UNAIDS and Caritas Internationalis, in close collaboration with the World Council of Churches–Ecumenical Advocacy Alliance (WCC–EAA), the World Health Organization and the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation.
“I have no doubt that good will and the prophetic moral leadership of Pope Francis and other religious leaders will strengthen our resolve to make real and accountable progress in our efforts to eliminate paediatric HIV by making available early diagnosis and treatment to all children and adolescents who are living with HIV.”
Peter Kodwo Appiah Turkson Cardinal and Prefect of the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development
"Our shared values to reach children in need of HIV testing before they get sick is our shared mission. Together, we have committed to concrete steps outlined in this Action Plan that children will have access to safe and effective treatment."
Deborah Birx United States Global AIDS Coordinator and Special Representative for Global Health Diplomacy
“The future of the global AIDS epidemic depends on what happens in Nigeria and today we have Cardinal Onaiyekan here—our bridge to the country realities in Nigeria. The trajectory changed when we were able to bring down the price of medicines in South Africa; Nigeria is the next big challenge.”
Luiz Loures Deputy Executive Director, UNAIDS
“Last week in Malawi I met with a teen club. When I came in, I thought these children were six, seven and eight years old and then they gave their ages: 11, 12, 13 and 14, malnourished and so small. They get one meal per day. I take one pill a day, they take many different pills per day—it is unbearable that children live in worse conditions than adults. How have we let this happen? And what can we do in this meeting to change that?”
Laurel Sprague Executive Director, Global Network of People Living with HIV
