Illustration: Pneumonia is a disease where bacteria, fungi, or viruses inflame alveoli, filling it with fluid. (Image via eMedicineHealth)

Pneumonia Day: Pneumonia kills a child in half a minute in 2018

Alfonsus Adi Putra
Business & Industry
Medical and Health
Nov 13, 2019
1619
On Tuesday, the world is commemorating the Pneumonia Day. The same day, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) released data about the “forgotten epidemic”.

Pneumonia is a disease affecting small air sacs in the lungs called alveoli. It can be caused by bacteria, fungi, or viruses. The inflamed alveoli are filled with fluid causing fever, coughing, and trouble breathing.

While it is referred to as a “forgotten epidemic”, pneumonia took more than 800,000 babies and young children in 2018. Almost 2,200 died every day due to the disease. The number beat the death toll due to diarrhea and malaria, at 437,000 and 272,000 respectively.

It is not like pneumonia is an incurable or inevitable like it used to be. Now, the world has cure and prevention for the disease. However, the death toll was a hot coffee to smell.

From all the investments made to tackle diseases, pneumonia research only received less at 3 percent. Meanwhile, pneumonia caused 15 percent of deaths of children under five years old.

Seth Berkley, chief executive of the GAVI vaccines alliance, stated that the fact the astronomical death toll was “frankly shocking” despite the fact that pneumonia is preventable.

If properly diagnosed, these children can be saved with low-cost antibiotics. However, tens of millions of children are unvaccinated and proper healthcare is unavailable.

Five countries in the world were recorded contributing the most to the death toll: Nigeria (162,000), India (127,000), Pakistan (58,000), Democratic Republic of Congo (40,000), and Ethiopia (38,000).

UNICEF said that children, infected by other deadly viruses such as HIV; malnourished; or, those who live in areas with mass air pollution and unsafe water, are at greater risk. Some poor regions also don’t have the vaccine treatment needed to prevent any casualty. Besides, children who had been severely affected by pneumonia need oxygen treatment, something the poor countries cannot afford.

Henrietta Fore, the Executive Director of UNICEF, called the global communities for strong commitment and investment to fight the disease.

To fight pneumonia, the global governments were urged to develop and implement Pneumonia Control Strategies to reduce deaths due to pneumonia and improve access for healthcare. Also, developed countries are asked to contribute to boosting immunization coverage, reducing the cost of key vaccines, and adding more investment for pneumonia research.

Source: https://uni.cf/2QeVnnn

Medical , Health , Prevention , Treatment , UNICEF , Pneumonia , Children , Immunization , Healthcare