Two million children may die of pneumonia in next decade

No fewer than two million Nigerian children may die in the next decade if concerted efforts are not made to fight pneumonia.

However, an estimated 809,000 of the deaths could be averted by significantly scaling up services to prevent and treat pneumonia.

A statement by the United Nations Children Fund (UNICEF), revealed that malnutrition, lack of access to vaccines and antibiotics are the cause of preventable deaths from pneumonia, which killed a child every three minutes in Nigeria last year.

It noted that boosting pneumonia services would create an additional ripple effect’ in preventing 1.2 million extra child deaths from other major childhood diseases at the same time.

Citing a research by Johns Hopkins University being released at the world’s first global conference on childhood pneumonia in Barcelona, UNICEF observed that improving nutrition, increasing vaccine coverage and boosting breastfeeding rates– key measures that reduce the risk of children dying from pneumonia, would also stop thousands of child deaths from diseases like diarrhea (580,000), meningitis (68,000), measles (55,000) and malaria (4,000).

It noted that by 2030, that effect would be so large that pneumonia interventions alone would avert over 2 million predicted under-five child deaths in Nigeria from all causes combined, researchers said.

UNICEF said Pneumonia, which is caused by bacteria, viruses or fungi, is the leading killer of children in Nigeria, causing 19 per cent of under-five deaths.

The global children body says most pneumonia deaths can be prevented with vaccines, and easily treated with low-cost antibiotics, adding that more than 40 percent of one-year-olds in Nigeria are unvaccinated, while three in four children suffering from pneumonia symptoms do not get access to medical treatment.

UNICEF Nigeria’s Country Representative, Peter Hawkins, said Nigeria has the responsibility to do all it can to avert these deaths by pneumonia adding that the announcement of the world’s first-ever pneumonia control strategy by the Federal government coupled with the focus globally on combating pneumonia is huge step forward.

Hawkins stressed the need to follow this with concrete action on ground to address the causes and drivers of childhood pneumonia deaths in the country.