Medicines for Children

The use of existing drugs and the development of new ones for use in children have been subject to many pressures, scientific, economic, social and political. In the period from 1970 to 1990, huge progress was made in the management of many serious illnesses in children utilising drugs which to a large extent were unlicensed for use in this age group. Indeed survival for children with leukaemia increased from 10 % in 1970 to almost 80 % by 1990, using drugs which had not been formally evaluated for use in children and for which no licensing or marketing authorisation had been sought or given. This is currently greater than 90 % because of most children now being part of a clinical trial as part of their treatment regimen in the UK.