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The American Academy of Pediatrics wants to see smaller pills, other changes.

CHICAGO — The American Academy of Pediatrics says more child-friendly HIV drugs are needed, including smaller pills and three-in-one tablets for kids, to help address a crisis affecting more than 2 million youngsters globally.
In a new policy statement endorsed by 19 international groups including the World Health Organization, the academy outlines barriers and solutions to an issue that is critical in developing regions.
In parts of Africa, AIDS kills about half of HIV-infected children before they reach the age of 2, said Dr. Peter Havens, chairman of an academy AIDS committee. By contrast, about 98 percent of HIV-infected U.S. children are expected to live to adulthood and have nearly normal life spans, thanks to readily available virus-fighting drugs, Havens said.
Some HIV drugs come as bottled liquids that require refrigeration. That poses a problem in rural countries, said Havens, an infectious disease specialist at the Medical College of Wisconsin.
Pills pose a separate problem. Caregivers sometimes break or crush adult-dose tablets to give youngsters smaller amounts, but that results in inexact and inappropriate doses, the policy statement says.
“We hope that this outline … will give some guidance to the pharmaceutical industry about where it might be best for them to put some of their energies,” Havens said.
The statement also is designed to raise awareness among policymakers, he said.