Today, November 12, is World Pneumonia Day. Pneumonia is one of the foremost causes of death among children in the developing world. It is also a preventable disease. When it comes to the raw statistics, pneumonia kills more children than measles, malaria and HIV/AIDS combined.
The brains of the operation behind World Malaria Day is the Global Coalition against Child Pneumonia, The Coalition was established in April 2009. It consists of a broad network of non-governmental organizations, community organizations and charities, research and scholarly institutes, foundations and individual academics, policy-makers, health professionals and concerned citizens.
Every year, 1.5-2 million children die of pneumonia, accounting for roughly 1 out of every 5 child deaths. For most of us, this is a bit of a difficult number to fathom. To bring it home, this amounts to 20 child deaths every second—4,300 child deaths every single day.
While children under five are most susceptible to pneumonia infection, infants under two years old face an even greater vulnerability.
Pneumonia is an infection that leads to the lungs filling up with fluid, causing fever, coughing and difficulty breathing. Left untreated under severe conditions, pneumonia can be fatal. The causes of pneumonia can be viral, fungal or bacterial.
In countries without many hospitals or medical centres, such as those in sub-Saharan Africa, the only way of diagnosing malaria is usually by observing the symptoms. This can be challenging, and such methods are not nearly as effective as lab tests and chest x-rays.
Vaccines against the Hib and pneumococcus strains of pneumonia can protect children from the disease. Antiobiotics and access to medicines are also important. However—especially where vaccines and medicines aren’t available to most people— the best and most enduring solutions lie in basic child health. According to the World Health Organization, there are three important interventions in particular: breastfeeding, sanitation and pollution reduction.
By exclusively breastfeeding their babies for the first six months of life, mothers can improve their children’s health and make sure their immune systems are strongly developed. Good hygiene and sanitation also have very high public health payoffs, helping to prevent the spread of the viruses, fungi and bacteria that spread pneumonia.
Finally, reducing the amount of indoor air pollution is difficult. Many women and children in developing countries spend a lot of time in doors cooking with coal on open stoves that have very little ventilation.