South African study highlights importance of research involving children.

News I did it for the sake of my child after she tested [HIV] positive. I gave informed consent when she was six weeks old. She has had no complications on treatment and is doing fine. Zama, an HIV-positive mother from Soweto. More clinical trials involving children are needed to improve access to essential medicines. However, such trials pose ethical, scientific and practical challenges for researchers. When 24-year-old Zama heard that her one-month-old baby girl had tested HIV positive, she did not believe it. " To be honest, I found it difficult to accept that my baby and myself were HIV positive. I'm fit and my baby was not sick, " she said, explaining her initial hesitation at joining a clinical trial for early antiretroviral (ARV) treatment of infants with HIV. But Zama quickly accepted that both she and her baby were HIV positive , told her boyfriend and her sister, and enrolled her baby in the study. One year later, Zama is one of seven mothers, feeding and playing with their healthy children in a bright room at Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital. Mothers there told the Bulletin that they were glad to be part of the clinical trial. Initial results from the Children with HIV Early Antiretroviral Therapy (CHER) study found a significant increase in survival among infants who received immediate ARV treatment. The trial started in July 2005 and is designed to continue through 2011. But a routine review by the trial's data and safety monitoring board in June this year, found that of the 377 babies enrolled, 96% were alive in the early treatment group compared to 84% in the delayed treatment group. The results were so striking that the board recommended that no additional infants be placed in the delayed treatment group and all babies be evaluated for initiation of ARV treatment. The trial, sponsored by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), highlights the importance of diagnosing HIV infected children within the first six weeks of life and facilitating early access to ARV treatment. Zama said: " I did it for the sake of my child after she tested [HIV] positive. I gave informed consent when she was six weeks old. She has had no complications on treatment and is doing fine. " Another mother from Soweto, 26-year-old Ntebo, said it was