Vaccinating against Pneumonia

The Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunizations (GAVI) announced that the Central African Republic, Benin and Cameroon will introduce pneumococcal vaccines in their countries in the upcoming weeks.

This announcement comes on the heels of the GAVI Alliance pledging conference last month during which a total of $4.3 billion was committed to vaccinating children worldwide. 

Pneumococcal disease, which causes pneumonia and meningitis, along with other diseases, is the leading cause of death in children under the age of five, according to a 2004 estimation by the World Health Organization (WHO). It is also preventable by the pneumococcal vaccine, which It has been was first introduced ten years ago. 

GAVI's goal is to introduce the vaccine in 40 countries in the by 2015, in an effort to reach Millennium Development Goal 4 (MDG 4). In the last seven months, Nicaragua, Guyana, Yemen, Kenya, Sierra Leone, Mali, DR Congo and Honduras have also introduced the vaccine.  MDG 4 is to reduce the infant mortality rate by half in the next four years. 

However, some countries, such as India, where the vaccination has yet to be made a standard practice, still lag behind in meeting the goal. In India, 30 of 100 infant deaths are due to pneumonia.