$39B needed to cut child pneumonia deaths: UN
Last Updated: Monday, November 2, 2009 | 10:23 AM ET
CBC News
It would take $39 billion US to save the lives of 5.3 million children who will otherwise die of pneumonia by 2015, the United Nations said Monday.
The World Health Organization and the UN Children's Fund launched a joint appeal to fund pneumonia prevention and treatment — at a cost of less than $13 US per child — in 68 developing countries,
"We know the strategy will work, and if it is applied in every high-burden country, we will be able to prevent millions of deaths," Margaret Chan, director general of the World Health Organization, said in a statement.
Pneumonia accounts for about 20 per cent of all child deaths every year, killing 1.8 million children under the age of five every year.
The plan calls for:
- Protecting children at low risk of pneumonia with exclusive breastfeeding for six months, adequate nutrition, increased hand washing and by reducing low birth weight and indoor air pollution.
- Preventing children contracting pneumonia by vaccinating against major triggers, such as measles, Hib, pneumococcus and rotavirus; by preventing and treating HIV in children; and by providing zinc for children with diarrhea.
- Treating children who get pneumonia with antibiotics and proper care in local communities, health centres and hospitals.
The goal is to expand vaccine coverage, exclusive breastfeeding rates and access to treatment to 90 per cent by 2015.
"This is very simply the biggest killer people never hear about," said Orin Levine, a public health expert at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Health, who has advised WHO and UNICEF.
If the goal is met, the agencies said it will lead to a reduction in child pneumonia deaths by 65 per cent and cut the number of severe pneumonia cases in children by 25 per cent, compared to 2000 levels.
Since 2000, a vaccine to protect children from pneumonia has existed, but it is only available in wealthy countries.
With files from The Associated Press
