“Fighting for breath” is the name of the latest report from the humanitarian association Save The Children, published on November 2, 2017. And the figures are alarming: every minute, worldwide, two children under the age of 5 die of pneumonia.
Pneumonia kills approximately 1 million children per year worldwide (922,136 deaths in 2015): among children under 5, this pathology causes more deaths than malaria, diarrheal diseases or measles. More than 80% of fatal cases occur in children under two years of age.
A cost of 109 million dollars per year
Mostly found in South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa, pneumonia is an acute respiratory infection that can be caused by viruses, bacteria or fungi – Streptococcus pneumoniae is the most common pathogen causing illness in the child.
Characterized by coughing and/or labored breathing (with or without fever), pneumonia causes the air cells in the lungs to fill with pus and fluid, which limits oxygen absorption.
According to Save The Children, “pneumonia is relatively easy to cure: already, with antibiotics worth 40 cents, a sick child can be saved from death in three or five days”. The World Health Organization, meanwhile, estimates that “treating all children with pneumonia with antibiotics in 66 of the Countdown 2015 countries… would cost around $109 million a year, which includes antibiotics and diagnosis for the management of pneumonia”.
Source: Save the Children press release
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