A groundbreaking agreement announcement by Unitaid on this year’s World’s AIDs signaled access to the best HIV medication for young needy children for African countries.
The agreement was between Unitaid and Clinton Health Access Initiative (CHAI). It stipulates that HIV positive children will get access to a more tailor-made and four times cheaper treatment.
The long wait for medication causes unnecessary deaths
Speaking to Africa news, Philippe Duneton, Unitaid Executive Director, acknowledged the fact that children from middle and low-income countries often wait for years before they get access to adult medicine, negatively influences their quality of life and result to unnecessary deaths.
He further added that the agreement would enable children to have access to medication at a “record pace” with also “guaranteed quality.”
“By ensuring early access to this treatment we will transform the lives of children living with HIV, helping them stay on treatment and saving thousands of lives,” Duneton added.
Countries to the first Benefit
The new treatment will be first available in countries where Unitaid has existing partnerships by mid-2021. These countries include Nigeria, Benin, Kenya, Uganda, Zimbabwe, and Malawi.
The Head of Unitaid program overseeing HIV projects, Louis Pizzaro, contrasted the situation in Europe with that of other African States. He mentioned that improved medication was the reason the Western countries hardly report any children contracting the virus. For this reason, they want to roll out the program in the African countries whose infected children are in “real need of treatment”.
Welcomed Move
Louis Pizzaro further remarked that the agreement was a culmination of years of work that has given Africa access to “the best treatment in the world” for children infected with the virus.
Kenya’s Health Cabinet minister, Mutahi Kagwe, also expressed his delight. He mentioned that Kenya intends to be the first country to adopt the new medication which will consequently improve the children’s lives.
”We are delighted that for the first time in Kenya and other countries can provide children with the same quality of treatment as adults, which has been made possible by the development of this new formulation,” Mutahi said.
Pros of the new treatment
Despite the fact that it is specifically made for children, its cost is also low. It will be less than $120 per child, four times cheaper than the normal cost which was $480. The price cut comes after the manufacturers, Viatris and Macleods, agreed to reduce the price of one of the components, from the previous $400 to $36 per child.
Moreover, the medication comes with flavor. Almost all children’s drugs are flavored to appeal to the children to take them. The manufactures have considered their target users and are providing the children with soluble tablets that are strawberry flavored.
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