Pneumonia the forgotten killer of children
This day helps to highlight the severity of pneumonia and encourages more organisations to look at ways of combating the disease.
World Pneumonia Day brings people from all over the world together uniting to demand that something be done to fight the pneumonia illness.
Pneumonia kills more children than any other illness – more than AIDS, malaria and measles combined. Over 2 million children die from pneumonia each year, accounting for almost one in five under five deaths worldwide. Yet, little attention is paid to this disease. This joint UNICEF/World Health Organisation report examines the epidemiological evidence on the burden and distribution of pneumonia and assesses current levels of treatment and prevention. It is a call to action to reduce pneumonia mortality, a key step towards the achievement of the millennium development goal on child mortality.
This day was first hosted in 2009 when over 100 organisations joined to form the Global Coalition against Child Pneumonia. It’s marked every year on 12 November to:
- Raise awareness about pneumonia, the world’s leading killer of children under the age of five;
- Promote interventions to protect against, prevent and treat pneumonia; and
- Generate action to combat pneumonia.
- Pneumonia is one of the most solvable problems in global health and yet a child dies from the infection every 20 seconds. Together we can ensure the fight against pneumonia is won.
Source: World Health Organisation
