Fighting pneumonia
Worldwide child survival goals unmet, disease still needs concentrated effort
In today's technologically charged environment, it's easy to forget that there are struggling nations still lacking access to the most basic health care — and that many of the world's children are suffering, as a result.
This week brought the first World Pneumonia Day, designed to raise awareness, devise solutions and call upon governments to take action on a basic but deadly condition. An important part of the effort is American legislation titled "The Maternal, Newborn and Child Survival Act," a bipartisan bill introduced into the House and in search of a Senate companion version.
The legislation is championed by former Sen. Bill Frist, a physician, whose credibility is above reproach as a medical professional and advocate. The bill would expand the availability of lifesaving tools such as antibiotics and trained health workers to mothers and babies in poor countries.
It sounds simple enough, especially for those of us lucky enough to have been born into a first-world country with the luxury of thinking well beyond basic medical needs. Yet, for many countries without the tools and talent to attack society-threatening ailments such as pneumonia, the need is clear.
According to the U.S. Coalition for Child Survival, more than 9 million children under the age of 5 die every year, mainly from preventable and treatable diseases. More than half a million women die from pregnancy-related causes.
Pneumonia kills more children under 5 than measles, malaria and AIDS combined. It's responsible for 20 percent of all deaths of children under 5 years old worldwide, and the pain is felt most deeply in south Asia and sub-Saharan Africa, where 98 percent of pneumonia deaths occur.
The Global Action Plan for the Prevention and Control of Pneumonia, to be released by the World Health Organization and UNICEF, is a six-year program designed to implement a comprehensive set of inventions including promoting breast-feeding and ensuring adequate nutrition and good hygiene; preventing the disease by vaccinating against common causes of pneumonia; and treating children in clinics and hospitals through effective case management and with an appropriate course of antibiotics.
Stories told on a recent teleconference with experts and advocates who have seen, firsthand, the difference basic training has made in the poorest of worldwide communities illustrated how much more needs to be done, and how other nations can promote change for the better.
World leaders have a commitment made in 2000, and a deadline to meet, for the 2015 Million Development Goals. At that time, there was talk of a two-thirds reduction in under-5 mortality by 2015 compared to 1990 levels. There's still a long way to go. Perhaps the recognition of that, afforded this week by World Pneumonia Day, will be the spark to reignite the effort.
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