Dr. Ando Raobelison

Empowering the Government to Take on Pneumonia

“Accounting for 19 percent of child mortality and responsible for 2 million deaths of under fives per year, pneumonia is the biggest killer in children globally,” says Ando Raobelison, Pneumonia Technical Advisor with Population Services International. ”But despite this fact, it receives little attention and money remains low.” In the first year of the PSI pneumonia program, Dr. Raobelison tried to change that.

Getting Started

Dr. Raobelison has the most personal of reasons for fighting against pneumonia. Her young daughter almost died from the disease. Motivated by this experience, she returned to her former employer, Population Services International, to help pilot and scale-up effective interventions to fight pneumonia.

She supports PSI country offices in developing pneumonia and community case management programs, and she advises governments on pneumonia policies and recommendations. For example, she has already connected with pneumonia champions in Madagascar’s government, and she is now providing them with technical assistance. PSI colleagues have begun similar work in Democratic Republic of Congo, Malawi and Myanmar.

Reaching Out

After conducting a situation analysis to identify potential partners, Dr. Raobelison and her team engaged stakeholders, including Ministries of Health. “Despite high motivation and passion, I faced constraints,” she says. With limited funding, PSI offices often found it difficult to allocate existing resources to this emerging field. Increasing the visibility of pneumonia is one means of making pneumonia control a greater priority.

World Pneumonia Day

For World Pneumonia Day, she suggested PSI offices organize events to raise awareness of the disease. Offices in Myanmar, Namibia, and Madagascar commemorated the event by wearing blue jeans to work and displaying WPD banners. In addition, PSI Namibia distributed posters, while PSI Madagascar held a press event with about 100 private doctors.

This year, PSI Madagascar is adopting a high tech approach, running an SMS-based game about pneumonia. There will also be events promoting pneumonia prevention, with an emphasis on hand washing.

“World Pneumonia Day is a tool that can help raise awareness about the issue. Things are going slowly, but they are getting better,” Dr. Raobelison says. For example, Myanmar is working with private providers to distribute prepackaged antibiotics, and Madagascar has launched a communication campaign targeting mothers and caregivers of young children. Seeking to build on this momentum, Dr. Raobelison would like to encourage governments to adopt the recommendations of the Global Action Plan for the Prevention and Control of Pneumonia (GAPP).

Words of Advice

“Identify someone within the Ministry of Health who can be your point person,” Dr. Raobelison advises. And make sure the MOH feels ownership of the program. “We have to be complementary and supportive of the local context and policies,” she adds.