Reuters: Leading organizations join forces to launch first annual World Pneumonia Day on November 2
WHO and UNICEF Release Global Action Plan to Combat Pneumonia as Part of
Historic Effort
"Resources and political will are standing between children and their futures,"
Write Senator Bill Frist and Rwandan Minister of Health Dr. Richard Sezibera
WASHINGTON—(Business Wire)—
Nearly 100 leading global health organizations from around the world joined
forces to recognize the first-annual World Pneumonia Day on November 2 and urge
governments to take steps to fight pneumonia, the world`s leading killer of
young children. The first steps in this fight are outlined in the Global Action
Plan for the Prevention and Control of Pneumonia, released today by the World
Health Organization (WHO) and UNICEF.
"It surprises most people to learn that pneumonia kills more children than any
other disease - taking more than 2 million young lives annually," write former
U.S. Senate Majority Leader and Save the Children Board member Bill Frist, MD
and co-author Dr. Richard Sezibera, Rwanda`s Minister of Health, in this week`s
edition of The Lancet. "Nearly half of these deaths could be prevented with
existing vaccines and the vast majority of cases could be treated with
inexpensive antibiotics. Yet, lives continue to be lost from this preventable
and treatable disease, and, until recently, there was very little outcry."
Pneumonia takes the lives of more children under 5 than measles, malaria, and
AIDS combined. The disease takes the life of one child every 15 seconds, and
accounts for 20% of all deaths of children under 5 worldwide. While pneumonia
affects children and families everywhere, it has the most deadly impact in South
Asia and sub-Saharan Africa, where 98% of pneumonia deaths occur. It can be
prevented with simple interventions, and treated with low-cost, low-tech
medication and care.
"Today the world is coming together like never before to address the number one
threat to the world`s children," said Orin Levine, executive director of
PneumoADIP at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. "Together we
call on country governments to implement life-saving pneumonia interventions for
those that need them most."
Global Action Plan for Prevention and Control of Pneumonia
The Global Action Plan for the Prevention and Control of Pneumonia (GAPP),
released today by WHO and UNICEF, outlines a six-year plan for the worldwide
scale-up of a comprehensive set of interventions to control the disease.
Countries are urged to implement a three-pronged pneumonia control strategy
that:
* protects children by promoting exclusive breastfeeding and ensuring adequate
nutrition and good hygiene;
* prevents the disease by vaccinating them against common causes of pneumonia
such as Streptococcus pneumoniae (pneumococcal disease) and Haemophilus
influenzae type b (Hib); and
* treats children at the community level and in clinics and hospitals through
effective case management and with an appropriate course of antibiotics.
TheGAPP estimates the cost of scaling up exclusive breastfeeding, vaccinations
and case management in the world`s 68 high child mortality countries. Together,
these countries account for 98% pneumonia deaths worldwide. With this
investment, the GAPP projects that by 2015, the scale-up of existing
interventions can decrease child pneumonia mortality substantially.
Ensuring Treatment, Achieving Prevention
Studies show that implementing pneumonia prevention and treatment interventions
worldwide could save more than one million lives each year and significantly
reduce the burden of families and communities that must cope with
pneumonia-related illnesses and deaths. Pneumonia can be treated effectively
with antibiotics that cost less than a dollar, but less than 20% of children
with pneumonia receive the antibiotics they need, according to WHO.
Safe and effective vaccines exist to provide protection against the primary
causes of pneumonia, Streptococcus pneumoniae (pneumococcal disease) and
Haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib). However, use of Hib vaccine has only
recently expanded to low-income countries and pneumococcal vaccine is not yet
included in national immunization programs in the developing world, where
children bear the highest risk for pneumonia and where most pneumonia-related
child deaths occur.
As the result of collaborative efforts by WHO, UNICEF, the GAVI Alliance,
academia, foundations, vaccine manufacturers, and donor and developing country
governments, low-income countries can now access existing and future
pneumococcal vaccines with a small self-financed contribution of as little as US
$0.15 per dose. To date, 11 countries have received GAVI Alliance approval for
support to introduce pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV) and 12 additional
countries have submitted applications.
"For the first time in history, we have the commitment from countries and the
tools and systems in place to deliver new life-saving vaccines to protect
millions of children against the world`s biggest childhood killer pneumonia,"
said Dr. Julian Lob-Levyt, CEO of the GAVI Alliance. "With increased donor
support, we can save many more lives and make an incredible leap in progress
towards further reducing child mortality in the world. This is an historic
opportunity we must not ignore."
World Pneumonia Day: A Global Effort
The Global Coalition against Child Pneumonia, made up of nearly 100 influential
global health organizations has led the World Pneumonia Day effort. Events are
taking place in more than 25 countries around the world.
"Pneumonia takes a devastating toll on families and communities in resource-poor
countries, so it is vitally important that this message be amplified throughout
the developing world," said Mary Beth Powers, chief of Save the Children`s
Survive to 5 campaign. "The involvement of these countries in this effort is an
important step toward reducing pneumonia deaths."
World Pneumonia Day events and activities will raise awareness, outline
solutions and call upon governments to act to combat pneumonia. In New York
City, more than 100 leaders in science, politics and global health will gather
for the first World Pneumonia Day Summit. Other activities will include
week-long activities in Nigeria including educational events, policy briefings
and rallies; a policymaker roundtable and symposium in Bangladesh; a Run for
Survival in Kenya; pediatrician workshops in Nepal; a health symposium in the
Philippines; and a briefing in London at the House of Commons. Additional events
are planned in China, the DRC, Ethiopia, India, Malawi, Mali, Pakistan, the
Philippines, South Africa, Thailand, and Uganda. An event list can be found at
http://worldpneumoniaday.org/events/upcoming-events/. These events all
underscore the need for urgent action to protect the lives of children
everywhere.
"We live in a world with infinite possibilities," write Frist and Sezibera.
"Hearts are transplanted, DNA is decoded, and new medical advances are made
every day. Yet we continue to be stymied by how best to reach those in
resource-poor settings with the most basic care and medicines that we take for
granted." They continue, "Resources and political will are standing between
children and their futures. With the right tools, we should not fail the next
generation of leaders and doctors."
To learn more about World Pneumonia Day and the Global Coalition against Child
Pneumonia, visit http://worldpneumoniaday.org. To download the Global Action
Plan for Prevention and Control of Pneumonia, visit
http://whqlibdoc.who.int/hq/2009/WHO_FCH_CAH_NCH_09.04_eng.pdf.
About The Global Coalition against Child Pneumonia
The Global Coalition against Child Pneumonia and the World Pneumonia Day
Coalition, was established in April 2009. It seeks to bring focus on pneumonia
as a public health issue and to prevent the millions of avoidable deaths from
pneumonia that occur each year. The coalition is grounded in a network of
international government, non-governmental and community-based organizations,
research and academic institutions, foundations, and individuals that have
united to bring much-needed attention to pneumonia among donors, policy makers,
health care professionals, and the general public. Learn more at
