Global Coalition Against Pneumonia

rdf:langString Global Coalition Against Pneumonia

rdf:langString The Global Coalition Against Child Pneumonia exists to raise global awareness about the deadly toll of the number 1 killer of children - pneumonia. Every year 155 million children under 5 get sick and 1.6 million lose their lives to pneumonia, more than all child deaths combined from AIDS, malaria and measles. Almost all of these child deaths occur in developing countries with most concentrated in just seven - India, China, Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Nigeria, Pakistan and Afghanistan. Children die from pneumonia despite the existence of vaccines that can prevent the leading causes of pneumonia and cost-effective antibiotics that can treat children who are sick. The Global Coalition Against Child Pneumonia is working to save millions of lives through protecting children against pneumonia with proper nutrition through exclusive breastfeeding, preventing pneumonia with new and existing vaccines, particularly Hib vaccine and Pneumococcal conjugate vaccine and treating pneumonia by training health workers to recognize symptoms of pneumonia and increasing access to appropriate antibiotic treatment. WHO and UNICEF estimate that these interventions, combined with others, could save 1 million children's lives every year taking the world one big step closer to achieving Millennium Development Goals.