Establishing a baseline for the monitoring of medicines availability for children in the UK: 1998-2002.
OBJECTIVE
To determine changes in the availability, in terms of licensing and formulations, of medicines for children in the UK between 1998 and 2002.


METHODS
Using the Association of British Pharmaceutical Industry (ABPI) Compendium of Data Sheets and Summaries of Product Characteristics (SPC) 1998 and the Medicines Compendium 2002, licensed medicines available in the UK in the calendar years 1998 and 2002 were examined.


RESULTS
In 1998, 61% of chemical entities/fixed-dose combinations were licensed in some form for children compared with 64% in 2002. Of the chemical entities/fixed-dose combinations with oral formulations, 250 (33%) in 1998 had an oral formulation suitable for use by children and in 2002 there were 284 (34%). Of the 129 new chemical entities registered in the UK between 1998 and 2002, only 30 (23%) were licensed for under the age of 12 years and 19 (15%) for the neonatal age group. A total of 480 medicines licensed for children were withdrawn from marketing but only cisapride and primidone had no generic or therapeutic alternatives.


CONCLUSIONS
Although there was improvement in the availability of medicines for children in the UK over the 5-year period (1998-2002), considerable inequities still existed between children and adults.
Balakrishnan
Komathi
K
School of Pharmacy and Dunedin School of Medicine, University of Otago, New Zealand.
Tordoff
June
J
Norris
Pauline
P
Reith
David
D
D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D017277:Drug Approval / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D004358:Drug Therapy / Q000639:trends*; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007880:Legislation, Drug; D010372:Pediatrics / Q000639:trends*; D004364:Pharmaceutical Preparations / Q000600:supply & distribution*; D006113:United Kingdom
D004364:Pharmaceutical Preparations