Monday 12th November was the fourth annual World Pneumonia Day, an event drawing attention to the disease which killed 1.3 million children in 2011 and was responsible for nearly one fifth of all deaths of children under the age of five. Although highly effective antibiotics are available at a relatively low cost, less than one third of children with suspected pneumonia receive treatment with antibiotics.
The ideal form of treatment is an amoxicillin tablet that dissolved in liquid. A number of agencies are now trying to ensure that amoxicillin tablets are readily available in the countries which have the highest numbers of child pneumonia deaths, including India (400,000 deaths), Nigeria (130,000), Democratic Republic of Congo (88,000), Pakistan (67,000), Ethiopia (41,000), Uganda (22,000), Niger (20,000), Bangladesh (19,000), Tanzania (18,000) and Kenya (18,000).
The symptoms of malaria and pneumonia are often similar, so it is important that health care workers be given training to distinguish between the two and apply the right type of medical treatment. UN ICEF and its partner agencies aim to train, equip and empower frontline health workers to diagnose, treat and refer cases of child pneumonia.