The father of a nine-year-old girl who died after she was given adult medication has welcomed a Government initiative to develop drugs specifically designed for children.

Art McConnell, 59, of East St Helen Street, Abingdon, has been campaigning against the use of unlicensed medication on youngsters ever since his daughter Lexie died in 1992.

He is pleased ministers have drawn up plans to encourage pharmaceutical companies to do more research on treatments with children in mind, and to make sure more information on drugs is available for doctors and parents, even though there is no move for a complete ban on the use of adult drugs for younger patients.

He said: "This is amazing. They have obviously taken on board all of our issues.

"This is the first stage of something that's terribly important as far as children's wellbeing is concerned. If it wasn't for unlicensed medicines, it's likely Lexie could still be alive today.

"This kind of thing -- prescribing adult medicine to children -- was going on all the time and I think it still is."

Lexie was given steroids when she was admitted to Oxford's John Radcliffe Hospital after losing the sight in her left eye.

Although official guidelines for the treatment recommended adults should only receive 60mg a day, she was given 80mg and it impaired her immune system.

She developed chicken pox, but was not able to fight off the normally mild bug and died three months later.

Oxfordshire Health Authority paid £100,000 to Mr and Mrs McConnell in an out-of-court settlement in 1999, and the couple asked the GMC to take further action.

Most medicines are only designed for and tested on adults, but they are widely prescribed for children.

But evidence shows that children and adults respond very differently to drugs, and treatments that may be effective in adults may not be suitable in younger patients.

Health minister Lord Warner has now launched the paediatric medicines strategy, which will encourage drug firms to do paediatric trials on their treatments, as well as use Department of Health cash to promote more specialised research.

The initiative will also ensure better advice is given in patient information leaflets, and, for the first time, through a dedicated British National Formulary for Children, to guide doctors about safe dosages.

Lord Warner said: "Until now there hasn't been enough emphasis on developing medicines specifically for use in children, and the UK has led the way in pushing for change in this area."

The strategy will not make it illegal to give children drugs that are not specifically licensed for their use.

The Government, however, is "supportive" of proposed European Union legislation that could soon make it illegal for doctors to prescribe to children drugs that are not specifically designed for them.

The new law is due to be introduced in 2006.