The Citizen<\/a> (Dar\u00a0es\u00a0Salaam)<\/p>\n29 December 2011<\/p>\n
\neditorial<\/p>\n
A recent report which noted that 70 per cent of medicines prescribed for children are unlicensed, used off-label and are not studied for particular age groups, brings to light an issue that is often overlooked in our society.<\/p>\n
It is common practice especially in rural areas where a significant percentage of the population is illiterate, and where access to expert health advice is limited, for medical dosage for children to be abused.<\/p>\n
It is common for parents who cannot get advice from health experts for their sick children to subdivide tablets meant for adults, which they then give to the young patients. The assumption is that such a quantity provides the right dosage for children in a given age bracket.<\/p>\n
But as health experts have established, these uninformed dosage adjustments complicate the absorption, distribution, metabolism and excretion of such medicines.<\/p>\n
Most of the substances in medicines for adults are often too strong for the children’s immature organs and end up creating complications that could be damaging to the health of the young ones.<\/p>\n
Because most clinical trials of medicines are traditionally performed in adults, and not necessarily of specific age groups, it is incumbent upon parents and the Tanzanian community at large to be cautious in the manner in which they administer drugs to children.<\/p>\n
As our country strives to meet its health initiatives and global commitments such as the Millennium Development Goal 4 on child health, the ministry of Health and other stakeholders should ensure that awareness on the right dosage of medicine for children is widespread and common knowledge among wananchi.<\/p>\n
Articles 6 and 24 of the UN convention on the rights of the child adopted in 1989 state that “every child has the inherent right to life and the State has an obligation to ensure the child’s survival and development, that a child has the right to the highest standard of health and medical care attainable and states shall strive to see that no child is deprived of access to health care services.”<\/p>\n
Let’s ensure this commitment is safeguarded by reducing child mortality rates.<\/p>\n
AllAfrica – All the Time<\/p>\n
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