Pneumonia killed 12,000 children last year

Pneumonia killed over 12,000 children (under five) in 2018, Save the Children in Bangladesh said yesterday, citing a new analysis from global health agencies.

With this figure Bangladesh ranks 14th among the 15 countries that see most pneumonia-related deaths in children under the age of five in 2018, according to Unicef.

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Globally, pneumonia claimed lives of more than 800,000 children under the age of five last year, or one child every 39 seconds, according to the analysis.

Most deaths occurred among children under the age of two, and almost 153,000 died within the first month.

More than half of pneumonia deaths in children occur in five countries including Nigeria (162,000), India (127,000), Pakistan (58,000), the Democratic Republic of Congo (40,000) and Ethiopia (32,000).

In Bangladesh, pneumonia caused four deaths out of 1000 live births  (13 percent of total) in 2017, standing as the third biggest killer of children under five.

Children with immune systems weakened by other conditions like malnutrition and those living in areas with high levels of air pollution and unsafe water are at far greater risk.

The disease can be prevented with vaccines, and easily treated with low-cost antibiotics if properly diagnosed, according to experts.

Yet globally, tens of millions of children are still going unvaccinated while one in three with symptoms do not receive essential medical care.

Dr Sabina Ashrafee, deputy programme manager (MNHP and IMCI) of the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS), told The Daily Star, “Pneumonia is an airborne disease and malnourished children are mostly affected by this.”

According to experts, protecting children by establishing good health practices from birth, preventing the disease by addressing underlying causes, and diagnosing and treating children who become ill are the key to fight pneumonia.

“Increasing the rate of exclusive [starting within one hour of birth and continuing for six months] breast feeding for nutrition, and vaccination are among the ways to tackle the situation,” Dr Sabina also said.

The rate of exclusive breast feeding in Bangladesh is 62 percent this year while the vaccination rate is 97 percent for vaccine coverage related to pneumonia among one-year-olds in 2018.