Medicine
Plans to develop medicines specifically geared to the needs of children are in progress, following a new initiative by the Department of Health (DoH). It is hoped the campaign will lead to the availability of better medicines for children.
Currently, most medicines are designed for and tested on adults despite the fact that some of them are widely used by children. It is hoped this will lead to more suitable child medicines.
In response to this, the Government has issued a plan aimed at encouraging medical manufacturers to research and develop medicines specifically tailored to the needs of children.
"Until now there hasn't been enough emphasis on developing medicines specifically for use by children. The UK has led the way in pushing for change in this area," said Health Minister, Lord Warner.
Apart from trying to incentivise companies to provide better paediatric data for medicines, the plan also includes providing information on the use of medicines on children in patient information leaflets. A separate British National Formulary for Children is also due to be published.
Chancellor Gordon Brown announced earlier this year that the Government would inject an additional £100 million into medical research, some of which will also go towards research into medicines for children.
Professor Rosalind Smyth, chair of the committee on Safety of Medicines Paediatric Working Group, said: "These plans have the potential to make a real difference for children, parents and prescribers by making sure that existing and new medicines are tailored to the needs of children.
Children have the right to the same standards for medicines as adults and this strategy is another step towards achieving this."
