Pneumonia is the leading killer of children under 5 years old.

• In 2011 alone, 1.3 million children died from this preventable and treatable illness, accounting for 18% of child mortality.¹
• In 2008, there were an estimated 203,000 deaths due to Haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib) and 541,000 deaths due to Streptococcus pneumoniae (pneumococcus) in children under five.²
• 99% of child pneumonia deaths occur in developing countries.³
• Pneumonia control and other child health interventions must be accelerated to meet Millennium Development Goal 4: Reduce under five mortality by two-thirds by 2015.¹

Pneumonia creates an economic burden for families, communities, and governments.

• Preventing pneumonia averts treatment costs, other loses due to illness, and allows children to become healthy, productive adults.
• Scaling up coverage of vaccines against Hib and pneumococcus in the world’s 73 poorest countries (2011-2020) would avert $51 billion dollars in treatment costs and productivity losses.⁴
• This increase in vaccine coverage would also save 2.9 million lives and prevent 52 million cases of illness.⁴

Global Pneumonia Interventions

Controlling childhood pneumonia requires an integrated package of interventions to protect, prevent, and treat the disease, as outlined in WHO and UNICEF’s 2009 Global Action Plan for the Prevention and Control of Pneumonia (GAPP) report. Fortunately, many of the interventions targeted at pneumonia also help control other childhood diseases, such as diarrhea, and should be part of a comprehensive approach to child survival.

Protect Against Pneumonia

• Exclusive breast feeding during the first six months of life and adequate nutrition through age five protect babies from pneumonia, diarrhea, malnutrition, and other diseases.
• Regular hand washing and access to clean water and sanitation protect children against pathogens that cause pneumonia, diarrhea, and other diseases.
• Eliminating household air pollution, especially smoke from unsafe cookstoves, reduces the risk of severe pneumonia in children.

Prevent Pneumonia

• Vaccines against pneumococcus, Hib, pertussis, and measles can prevent a significant portion of pneumonia cases from ever occurring.⁵
• Other preventative strategies include: zinc supplementation for children with diarrhea, prevention of HIV infection in children & antibiotic prophylaxis for HIV-infected children.⁵

Treat Pneumonia

• Antibiotics, such as amoxicillin, can prevent the majority of pneumonia deaths, and cost only about $US 0.21-0.42 per treatment course.⁶
• Effective, integrated case management strategies ensure that children receive proper and timely treatment for pneumonia.⁵
• Improving access to services and increasing awareness and demand for services within communities is crucial to controlling pneumonia.⁵

How can you help fight pneumonia?

• Raise awareness about the global impact of pneumonia among policy makers, health care providers, and the public by advocating for increased funding for programs that protect against, prevent & treat pneumonia.
• Hold a World Pneumonia Day event (November 12th).
• Follow us! Twitter: @NoMorePneumo
• Like us! Facebook: Prevent Pneumonia

 

Informational Resources

• Committing to Child Survival: A Promise Renewed
• The UN Commission on Life Saving Commodities
• Infographic: Joint Approaches to Tackling Pneumonia & Diarrhea
• Global Action Plan for Prevention and Control of Pneumonia (GAPP) (UNICEF and WHO)
• Pneumonia and Diarrhea: Tackling the deadliest diseases for the world’s poorest children (UNICEF)
• 2012 World Pneumonia Day Infographic (PDF)
• Combining forces in Cambodia to overcome childhood diarrhea and pneumonia (via DefeatDD)
• ChildHealthNow’s Global Week of Action – Supporter Pack
• pneumonia: An international, peer-reviewed, open access journal exclusively focused on pneumonia.

References

1. UNICEF. Committing to Child Survival: A Promise Renewed. Progress Report 2012. 2012.
2. Johnson H, O’Brien KL, Levine OS, Mantel C, Cherian T, Provisional year 2008 estimate of pneumococcal and Hib disease deaths in children under 5 years of age. Based on Black et al. Lancet 2010 and O’Brien et al Lancet 2009.
3. UNICEF. Pneumonia and Diarrhea: Tackling the deadliest disease for the world’s poorest children. 2012.
4. Stack ML and Ozawa S, Decade of Vaccine Economics (DOVE) Analysis, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, International Vaccine Access Center, 2012.
5. WHO, UNICEF. Global action plan for prevention and control of pneumonia (GAPP). 2009. Available at: http://whqlibdoc.who.int/hq/2009/WHO_FCH_CAH_NCH_09.04_eng.pdf. Accessed August 15, 2012.
6. United Nations Foundation. Every Woman, Every Child. Commission on Life-Saving Commodities. 2012. Available at: http://www.everywomaneverychild.org/resources/un-commission-onlife-saving-commodities/life-saving-commodities. Accessed onNovember 6, 2012.

* WHO World Health Statistics 2012. Global Health Indicators.
2012.