Government of the Principality of Monaco supports DNDi to increase access to improved treatment for children with HIV

Monaco / Geneva — 8 Apr 2022

From left to right: Dr Monique Wasunna, Eastern Africa Regional Director, DNDi; Carole Lanteri, Ambassador and Permanent Representative at UNOG for the Government of the Principality of Monaco; Dr Bernard Pécoul, Executive Director, DNDi

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The Government of the Principality of Monaco and the Drugs for Neglected Diseases initiative (DNDi) are pleased to announce their partnership to help put an end to the neglect of children living with HIV.

With a commitment of EUR 300,000 over three years (2022-2024), the Monegasque Cooperation for Development will support DNDi’s efforts to improve access to optimal HIV treatments for young children.

‘We are very pleased to count on the support of the Government of the Principality of Monaco,’ said Dr Bernard Pécoul, Executive Director of DNDi. ‘For too long, children living with HIV have been neglected, particularly those living in low-resource settings. Today, we are witnessing a revolution in the diagnosis and treatment of paediatric HIV. It is now our responsibility to ensure that children living with HIV have access to these game-changing diagnostics and treatments.’

Despite a huge increase in the number of adults accessing life-saving HIV treatment, children are still being left behind. Almost 800,000 kids living with HIV – the majority in sub-Saharan Africa – are not on treatment. This represents close to 50% of children living with HIV worldwide. Without treatment, half of all children born with HIV will die by the age of two.

South Africa has the largest HIV burden globally: with 310,000 children living with HIV, under half (47%) receive anti-retroviral treatment (ART). In Senegal, only a third of the 4,000 children living with HIV have access to ART.

This Monaco-funded project will work to address barriers to HIV treatment in these two countries. In South Africa, DNDi will support the registration of an improved taste-masked combination HIV treatment that is a marked improvement over the bitter-tasting and hard-to-administer options that are currently available in the country. In Senegal, the project will help strengthen local capacity to diagnose and treat HIV in children through training of healthcare personnel and local communities.

‘The Government of the Principality of Monaco is delighted with this partnership with DNDi to help improve access to treatment for children with HIV in two of its partner countries, South Africa and Senegal. This health partnership is in line with the priorities of the Monegasque Cooperation, with the most vulnerable as its main focus. We hope that advances in diagnosis and treatment for HIV will soon benefit the greatest number of children, so that no one is left behind’, said Bénédicte Schutz, Monaco’s Special Representative for International Cooperation.

About DNDi

A not-for-profit research and development organization, DNDi works to deliver new treatments for neglected patients, those living with Chagas disease, sleeping sickness (human African trypanosomiasis), leishmaniasis, filarial infections, mycetoma, paediatric HIV, hepatitis C, and dengue. DNDi is also coordinating the ANTICOV clinical trial to find treatments for mild-to-moderate COVID-19 cases in low- and middle-income countries. Since its inception in 2003, DNDi has delivered nine new treatments, including new drug combinations for kala-azar, two fixed-dose antimalarials, and DNDi’s first successfully developed new chemical entity, fexinidazole, approved in 2018 for the treatment of both stages of sleeping sickness. dndi.org

About the Government of the Principality of Monaco

The Government of Monaco’s international development policy, which has made fight against poverty its priority, support around 150 projects each year in 11 countries, mainly LDCs (Madagascar, Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger, Mauritania, Senegal and Burundi). The aid focuses on four key areas of intervention to develop human capital – health, fod security, education & child protection, access to decent work – and targets the most vulnerable people (women, children, refugees, people with disabilities) as a priority. cooperation-monaco.gouv.mc