By 2030, nearly eleven million children are at risk of pneumonia

According to one study, by the end of the next decade, nearly 11 million young children around the world are at risk of pneumonia. According to current trends, more than 10.8 million children under five will die from an preventable infectious disease by 2030, according to the Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore and Save the Children, the global anti-pneumonia badociation. was released on Monday.

While in the industrialized world it is mostly older people who develop pneumonia, in developing countries they are mostly children. In 2016 alone, more than 880,000 children, most of whom were younger than two years old, died of the disease, according to the study.

According to previous figures, some countries in Africa and South Asia are probably among the most affected countries. For example, Nigeria and India have 1.7 million deaths from pneumonia in young children, 700,000 in Pakistan and 635,000 in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

At the same time, the authors of the study pointed out that many deaths could be avoided with relatively simple measures. For example, better immunization coverage, cheap antibiotics and good nutrition for children could save 4.1 million lives.

Kevin Watkins, director of Save the Children, said that it was amazing that "every year, nearly a million children die of an illness that we have the knowledge and the resources needed to defeat. " Unlike other dangerous diseases, pneumonia "does not have pink curls, spikes or global markets".

"But for all those who care about justice for children and their access to basic health care, this forgotten killer should be the major concern of our age," said Watkins. For this, among other things, the prices of existing vaccines against pneumonia should be reduced "dramatically".

Pneumonia can be triggered by viruses or bacteria. If it is treated early and the immune system of the affected person is not too weak, it is curable. In many cases, however, children contract the disease, already weakened by malnutrition.

Every year, more children worldwide die from pneumonia than malaria, diarrhea and measles combined. The United Nations Sustainable Development Goals for 2030 also include "Ending preventable child deaths".

Posted: 13.11.2018 – Source: Agence-France-Presse