LONDON (Reuters) — Children are dying for lack of
drugs tailored to their needs, according to the World Health Organization
(WHO), which launched a global campaign on Thursday to promote more research
into child medicine.
More than half of the drugs currently used to treat
children in the industrialized world have not been specifically tested on
youngsters.
The problem is even worse in
developing countries where price remains a major barrier and 6 million children
die each year from treatable conditions.
In the case of HIV/AIDS, the few existing pediatric
therapies(儿科的疗法)developed for children generally cost three
times more than adult ones.
As a result, clinicians lack clear
guidelines on the best drug to use and often have to guess at the correct dose.
Fortunately, the WHO has drawn up
the first international List of Essential Medicines for Children, containing
206 products considered safe for children.
“But a lot remains to be done. There are priority
medicines that have not been adapted for children’s use or are not available
when needed,” said Dr Hans, the U.N. agency’s director of medicines policy and
standards.
Medicines that need to be adapted
to children’s needs include many antibiotics, pain drugs as well as combination
pills for HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria.
The agency is building an Internet
entrance linking to clinical trials carried out in children and will launch a
Web site with the information early next year.
Testing medicines on children has always been a
controversial issue, since good ethical(伦理的)practice
requires informed agreement from people participating in clinical trials, which
is difficult to obtain in the case of children.
As a result, research-based drug
companies have been wary of developing child-friendly medicines and
general companies have been slow to produce them at lower cost.
In an attempt to deal with the issue, both Europe and
the United States now have special rules offering extended patent protection
for drugs that have been tested on children.
1.Which of the following is the best title of the
passage?
A. A Global Campaign to Promote Research into AIDS
Medicine
B. WHO Says Children are Dying for Lack of Child-sized
Drugs
C. Many People are Concerned about Children’s Drugs
D. Measures Taken to Develop Child-friendly Medicine
Quickly
2.Which of the following medicine is not needed to be
adapted to children’s need according to the passage?
A. Pain killers. B.
Tuberculosis. C.
AID pills. D.
Flu pills.
3.Why has testing medicines on children always been a
controversial issue?
A. It is against good ethical practice
B. Children shouldn’t take part in clinical trials.
C. It is hard to get informed agreement from children
tested.
D. Parents don’t allow their children to be tested on
medicine.
4.The underlined word “wary” in the last but one
paragraph means _________.
A.
fast B.
fond C.
cautious D.
uninterested
5.What can be inferred from the passage?
A. There is still a long way to go on children’s
medicine.
B. An Internet entrance is being built to link to
clinical trials carried out in children.
C. Both Europe and the United States now have special
rules offering extended patent protection for adults’ drugs.
D. Less than half of the drugs currently used to treat
children in the industrialized world have not been specifically tested on
youngsters