December 1 is World AIDS Day. In this episode of MSF PULSE, we look at one particularly vulnerable category of HIV-positive patients which continues to be almost completely neglected by pharmaceutical companies: children.


Script: Last year, AIDS-related illnesses killed more than one-hundred-thousand children worldwide.
Death rates among HIV-positive children are still distressingly high.
The response from the pharmaceutical industry has mostly been... complete indifference.
---
Pediatric versions of essential HIV drugs aren't easily available — especially in poor countries.
[90% of all HIV-positive children live in sub-Saharan Africa]
Even when pharma companies make drugs for children — they’re slow to develop them, slow to register them and slow to make them available in low-income countries.
[Market for pediatric HIV medicines is small and concentrated in countries with little spending power, so pharmaceutical companies have little incentive to develop them]
One year ago, pharmaceutical executives promised to make effective treatments for HIV-positive children a priority.
[Companies like Viiv Healthcare, Merck, Mylan and Cipla are slow to make drugs available]
Since then, very little has happened.
On December 6, this group will meet again and they can't be allowed to rest on last year’s empty promises.
[Pharmaceutical companies to meet in Vatican City on December 6th]
Vulnerable children in some of the world’s poorest countries continue to die because they can’t access the treatments they need.
The longer Big Pharma drags its feet on pediatric HIV medicines, the more children will suffer and the more children will die.
OUTRO
We’re calling on global pharmaceutical corporations to live up to their promises and obligations.
They can make the lives children infected with HIV a real priority... if they just choose to do so.


Keywords: HIV, big pharma, pediatric HIV medecines, pharmaceutical companies, Pfizer, Aids, children with HIV, drugs, treating HIV