Biology:Global Coalition Against Pneumonia
The Global Coalition Against Child Pneumonia exists to raise global awareness about the deadly toll of the number 1 killer of children - pneumonia. Every year 155 million children under 5 get sick and 1.6 million lose their lives to pneumonia, more than all child deaths combined from AIDS, malaria and measles. Almost all of these child deaths occur in developing countries with most concentrated in just seven - India, China, Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Nigeria, Pakistan and Afghanistan.[1] Children die from pneumonia despite the existence of vaccines that can prevent the leading causes of pneumonia and cost-effective antibiotics that can treat children who are sick. The Global Coalition Against Child Pneumonia is working to save millions of lives through protecting children against pneumonia with proper nutrition through exclusive breastfeeding,[2] preventing pneumonia with new and existing vaccines, particularly Hib vaccine[3] and Pneumococcal conjugate vaccine[4] and treating pneumonia by training health workers to recognize symptoms of pneumonia and increasing access to appropriate antibiotic treatment.[5]
WHO and UNICEF estimate that these interventions, combined with others, could save 1 million children's lives every year taking the world one big step closer to achieving Millennium Development Goals.
World Pneumonia Day
Pneumonia has been overshadowed as a priority on the global health agenda, and rarely receives coverage in the news media.[6] To combat this, the Global Coalition against Child Pneumonia is raising a collective voice to renew the global fight against pneumonia by holding World Pneumonia Day every year. It will provide an annual forum for the world to stand together and demand action in the fight against pneumonia. The first World Pneumonia Day was held on November 2, 2009 and in 2010 World Pneumonia Day falls on November 12. World Pneumonia Day will help bring this health crisis to the public’s attention and will encourage policy makers and grass roots organizers alike to combat the disease.[citation needed]
Coalition members
The WHO, UNICEF and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) offer technical assistance to the Global Coalition.
References
- ↑ "Epidemiology and etiology of childhood pneumonia". Bull. World Health Organ. 86 (5): 408–16. May 2008. doi:10.2471/BLT.07.048769. PMID 18545744. PMC 2647437. http://www.scielosp.org/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0042-96862008000500019&lng=en&nrm=iso&tlng=en.
- ↑ "Acute lower respiratory infections in childhood: opportunities for reducing the global burden through nutritional interventions". Bull. World Health Organ. 86 (5): 356–64. May 2008. doi:10.2471/blt.07.049114. PMID 18545738. PMC 2647440. http://www.scielosp.org/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0042-96862008000500013&lng=en&nrm=iso&tlng=en.
- ↑ "Burden of disease caused by Haemophilus influenzae type b in children younger than 5 years: global estimates". Lancet 374 (9693): 903–11. September 2009. doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(09)61203-4. PMID 19748399.
- ↑ "Burden of disease caused by Streptococcus pneumoniae in children younger than 5 years: global estimates". Lancet 374 (9693): 893–902. September 2009. doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(09)61204-6. PMID 19748398.
- ↑ Matthew Hodge; World Health Organization; Tessa M. Wardlaw; Emily White Johansson (2007). Pneumonia: The Forgotten Killer of Children. New York, NY: United Nations Publications. ISBN 978-92-806-4048-9. http://www.unicef.org/publications/files/Pneumonia_The_Forgotten_Killer_of_Children.pdf. Retrieved 2009-10-28.
- ↑ Nicholas D. Kristof (March 28, 2009). "Pssst. Pneumonia. Pass it on". Blog: On the Ground (New York Times). http://kristof.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/03/28/pssst-pneumonia-pass-it-on/.
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