Thursday, June 24, 2010

WHO Give Child Drug Guidelines

World Health Organization (WHO) for the first time issued guidelines for the use of 240 essential drugs for children under the age of 13 years.

These guidelines contain information about the indications of use, dosage and side effects of drugs, including warnings that children should not consume a particular drug. Thick 528-page guide also mentions common drug interactions.

"To be effective, the drug should be chosen carefully and the dose was adjusted for age, weight, and the needs of children," said Dr.Hans Hogerzeil from WHO.


He added, without a guide health workers, including pediatricians would be difficult to prescribe an appropriate medication based on little evidence.

Some countries were already making their own guidelines regarding medications for children, but until now there is no universal standard that nature. WHO created this guide published in English, but the government of each country was allowed to translate in order to be used as a recommendation.

Each year 8.8 million children younger than 5 years died of various diseases, such as diarrhea and pneumonia. In fact, according to the WHO's death could have been prevented with proper medication.

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