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WHO guidelines for treating HIV in children
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How will WHO guidelines improve HIV treatment for children?

by the World Health Organization

Q: How will WHO's antiretroviral treatment guidelines improve HIV treatment for children?

A: It is critical that children are diagnosed early and provided with antiretroviral therapy (ART) as early as possible, as the course of HIV infection is faster and more aggressive in children. Many of the obstacles associated with treatment of pediatric HIV have to do with lack of simple and affordable diagnostic technologies and insufficient understanding of the life-saving effects of ART in children.

WHO has now revised and updated the previous ART guidelines for infants and children, taking into account the realities and limitations of resource-limited settings. The revised guidelines highlight:

·         how to establish diagnosis of HIV in infants and children

·         when to commence ART

·         ART drug toxicity

·         strategies when first- and second-line treatments fail

·         considerations for nutrition/malnutrition and ART

·         clinical and laboratory monitoring

·         ART adherence and drug resistance problems.

These revised WHO guidelines will be useful to national AIDS program managers and other policymakers. WHO is working closely with UNICEF and other key partners to ensure the revised technical guidelines are incorporated into child health and HIV programs, training tools and approaches and are adapted and implemented in countries.

To improve access to these essential medicines for children, the first international Expert Consultation on Pediatric Essential Medicines, jointly held by WHO and UNICEF in August 2006, has delivered a plan to increase access to pediatric formulations and to improve the dissemination of best practice guidelines.

Related links

- Pediatric HIV and treatment of children living with HIV
- Antiretroviral Therapy
- WHO and UNICEF tackle problem of lack of essential medicines for children