Pneumonia: Number 1 killer of children under the age of 5 (VIDEO)
Calvin Lang’at, a nurse at Vihiga District Hospital in western Kenya, gives a shot containing the pneumococcal vaccine to Colleen Kafandika, six weeks old. The baby’s mother, Thwaibh Jarega, looks on.
It’s a shocking statistic. Pneumonia kills more children under the age of five than any other disease, claiming a young life every 20 seconds. In fact, for every child who dies from pneumonia in the industrialized world, 2,000 more die in developing countries. It doesn't have to be this way.
Saturday, Nov. 12, is World Pneumonia Day, which was started by the Global Coalition against Child Pneumonia, a group established in April 2009 to raise awareness about the toll of pneumonia and to advocate for global action to protect against, effectively treat and help prevent this deadly disease.
Pneumonia is one of global health’s most solvable problems. We have safe, effective and affordable tools to help children. More than one million young lives can be saved annually with vaccines and antibiotics, reducing indoor air pollution and through breastfeeding for the first six months of life. You can learn more and take action at WorldPneumoniaDay.org.
The story you just read is not locked behind a paywall because listeners and readers like you generously support our nonprofit newsroom. Now more than ever, we need your help to support our global reporting work and power the future of The World. Can we count on you?