Looking back at paediatric HIV treatment in South Africa. My, how we have grown!

Abstract

Antiretroviral treatment has undergone major changes in the last 20 years, from monotherapy, to dual therapy and finally to triple therapy. Lately, more focus has been placed on better, more well-tolerated combinations and formulations. As in most other disciplines in medicine, the development of paediatric HIV dosages and formulations always tends to lag behind adult research. Twenty years ago, it could take several years before data were available to enable the use of life-saving antiretrovirals in children. Paediatricians, being ever resourceful, were not prepared to let their paediatric patients suffer despite the lack of data or formulations and so made a plan. This article describes some of the trials and tribulations that we went through trying to make sure that our paediatric HIV patients not only survived but thrived. Clinicians treating paediatric patients today have it so much easier because of what our colleagues and their patients went through in those early days.