ZAMBIA LACKING SUPPLY OF PEDIATRIC ARV DRUGS

Zambia is experiencing a shortage of pediatric HIV testing kits and antiretroviral (ARV) drugs for children, the UN Integrated Regional Information Networks (IRIN) reports. Despite the National AIDS Council (NAC) having enough ARV medication to treat about 19,000 children, only about 5,000 are able to access the drugs.

"The largest source of HIV infection in children is mother-to-child transmission during pregnancy," NAC spokeswoman Justine Mwinga told IRIN. But access to pediatric ARV drugs is being hindered by the lack of infant diagnostic techniques and the inadequate training of health workers and caregivers, Mwinga said.

The Zambian Red Cross Society has encountered problems in putting children on ARVs, according to IRIN, but the group has managed to put roughly 30 orphans and vulnerable children on ARV treatment in its home-based care projects.

"We find it very difficult to support many children to access ARVs because of the dosage, which requires highly specialized medical personnel to dispense the drugs, as most of them are meant for adults," local Red Cross spokesman James Zulu told IRIN. "It would have been easier if we had children's ARVs in the clinics and hospitals that we are working with."