World Pneumonia Day – November 12, 2011
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In Madhya Pradesh, India, a mother administers medicine to her newborn.
Source: Photoshare/Kailash Mittal |
On November 12, World Pneumonia Day, USAID stands with the global community in celebration of the incredible progress made against the leading cause of death among children worldwide: pneumonia. One child dies every 20 seconds from this preventable and treatable disease. It is a stark reminder that we must remain determined and steadfast in our effort to achieve even greater success.
In an increasingly interconnected world, there is no "them," only us. We have a collective responsibility to ensure no mother will have to mourn the loss of her child simply because she couldn't access or afford a preventative vaccination or treatment.
We've made a good start on our journey, but we still have a long way to go. Thankfully, we have in our possession the tools needed to change the tide on these statistics. However, we need new ways to deliver badly needed health services and new ways to stimulate demand in the most rural pockets of the world.
Through USAID partnerships like the GAVI Alliance, more than 250 million kids will receive vaccinations over the next 4 years, which will translate to roughly 4 million children's lives saved -the equivalent to half the population of New York City. Through our efforts, Hib and pneumococcal vaccines will reduce infections by half, and antibiotics will help prevent infections from turning deadly.
Pneumonia Fast Facts
- If all the world’s children were represented by a preschool classroom that comprised of 20 students, pneumonia would claim four of them before they reached kindergarten. Pneumonia is an infection of the lungs that causes death in those who are immunocompromised or are not strong enough to fight infection.
- Pneumonia is responsible for one in five deaths in children under 5 years old. It is the leading cause of death for young children, killing more children than any other illness in the world – more than AIDS, malaria, and measles combined.
- One child dies of pneumonia every 20 seconds.
- Vaccines can cut deaths from pneumonia in half.
- Antibiotics are effective treatment for pneumonia and can cost less than $1 for a complete treatment.
- Because it is a disease of the lungs, respiratory health is important to surviving pneumonia. Replacing traditional cooking stoves with clean-burning types reduces pneumonia infections by as much as 50 percent.
What You Can Do
Share the message with friends and family by sharing on social media the sample messages below.
(Clicking either of the links to share will lead to a page outside usaid.gov.)
- If you don’t think cases of pneumonia a world away affects your life, think again: http://bit.ly/u591mN.
- Pneumonia takes the lives of more than 1.5 million children every year – more than any other cause of death.
- Every 20 seconds, pneumonia takes the life of a child. Learn more about what the United States is doing to prevent these deaths: http://worldpneumoniaday.org/
Additional Resources
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