GAP-f Marks World Children’s Day With Push for Better Access to Child Medicines

The EMLc remains the world’s most authoritative reference for national formularies, procurement agencies, and health systems.

On World Children’s Day, the Global Accelerator for Paediatric Formulations Network (GAP-f) renewed its call for urgent, coordinated global action to improve access to age-appropriate medicines for children. Despite advancements in public health, millions of children—particularly those living in low-resource settings—still struggle to obtain the essential treatments they need due to persistent gaps in research, regulatory support, investment, and availability of child-friendly formulations.

GAP-f, hosted by WHO and supported by a coalition of global health partners, aims to close this long-standing equity gap by accelerating the development, approval, and delivery of paediatric medicines. Its renewed appeal comes at a critical moment as the global health community pushes to meet the Sustainable Development Goals and address widening disparities in child health outcomes.

A Strategic Roadmap to 2030: Expanding Focus and Accelerating Action

During the 77th World Health Assembly earlier this year, GAP-f launched its Strategic Roadmap 2025–2030, outlining the next phase of its mission to bridge the gap between scientific innovation and children’s access to essential medicines. The roadmap sets out three major strategic shifts:

• Expanding the disease focus to include respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), sickle cell disease, dengue, malaria, and epilepsy—conditions that cause significant morbidity and mortality among children but lack appropriate formulations.

• Strengthening country and regional engagement to help nations build robust and sustainable paediatric medicines ecosystems.

• Driving pharmaceutical innovation by supporting novel formulation technologies, encouraging investment in child-focused R&D, and promoting streamlined clinical development pathways.

Together, these shifts aim to build a more equitable global response—one that ensures paediatric medicines are not an afterthought but a core component of health systems.

Defining Priority Paediatric Formulations for High-Burden Diseases

A major milestone for GAP-f this year was the completion of several Paediatric Drug Optimization (PADO) exercises, a structured process used to identify the highest-priority paediatric formulations needed worldwide.

With WHO and network partners, new priority formulations have been defined for:

• RSV

• Malaria

• Epilepsy

• Dengue

• Sickle cell disease

These areas were selected through transparent criteria based on global need, disease burden, existing treatment gaps, and the potential to save lives. The PADO process guides funders, researchers, regulators and manufacturers toward developing medicines that are urgently needed and tailored for children.

“The PADO-Epilepsy report charts a shared path to accelerate access to child-friendly medicines for treating epilepsy,” said Dévora Kestel, Director a.i. of WHO’s Noncommunicable Diseases and Mental Health Department. “By aligning partners around clear priorities, PADO ensures that science is translated into access.”

Advancing Target Product Profiles for Child-Friendly Cancer Medicines

In another major stride, WHO released six new target product profiles (TPPs) that provide pharmaceutical manufacturers with technical specifications to develop improved formulations of essential childhood cancer medicines. These TPPs serve as a crucial guide for industry, ensuring that future products are designed with children’s physiological needs and treatment contexts in mind.

The TPPs were developed through WHO’s rigorous review process, supported by global experts within the GAP-f Network. They pave the way for future inclusion of new paediatric cancer formulations in WHO’s Prequalification Programme and ultimately the Model List of Essential Medicines for Children (EMLc).

This milestone follows earlier TPPs for antibiotics—nitrofurantoin and azithromycin—developed to encourage wide access to priority paediatric antibiotics.

The Essential Medicines List for Children: A Global Reference, Now Updated

Over the last four years, WHO and GAP-f partners have completed a comprehensive review of all formulations in the EMLc, resulting in:

• 163 new formulations added

• 92 outdated formulations removed

• Significant updates across multiple therapeutic areas

The review also identified 79 medicines that still require age-appropriate formulations—providing a clear workplan for future R&D.

The EMLc remains the world’s most authoritative reference for national formularies, procurement agencies, and health systems. Ongoing work at WHO now focuses on supporting countries—starting in the South-East Asia region—to adopt and implement EMLc recommendations and strengthen their paediatric medicines ecosystems.

A Call to Action: Ensuring No Child Is Left Behind

Children continue to face disproportionate barriers to receiving the medicines they need. From poor availability of formulations to delayed regulatory approval and limited investment in R&D, the challenges are systemic. GAP-f argues that bridging these gaps requires a coordinated effort across science, policy, manufacturing, and health-care delivery.

As the world marks World Children’s Day, GAP-f is urging governments, manufacturers, donors, and global health agencies to intensify their commitment to paediatric medicines.

With stronger partnerships, increased innovation, and sustained investments, the global community can ensure that every child—regardless of where they live—can access safe, effective, and age-appropriate medicines.