Suleman Chaudhary
LAHORE MIRROR — While global health systems have shown promising signs of recovery, this progress remains uneven, with millions of children left without access to basic services, Pneumonia and diarrhea remain leading killers of young children worldwide, responsible for nearly 1.22 million under-five deaths annually.
These two infectious diseases account for approximately 23% of global under-five mortality. International Vaccine Access Center (IVAC) and the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health have analyzed annual progress for 10 key GAPPD interventions in the 15 countries with the highest burden of under-five deaths from pneumonia and diarrhea and issue their report.
In latest report for pneumonia and diarrhea says that these two diseases are responsible for 1 in 4 deaths of children under 5. Worldwide 1.22 million numbers of children under 5 who die of pneumonia and diarrhea per year.it says over 70 % of all pneumonia under diarrhea death in children under 5 occur in just 15 countries.
A child under 5 dies of pneumonia every 43 seconds in world.
Report further said that last year, 484,000 number of children under 5 who die of diarrhea per year. 739,000 number of children under 5 who die of pneumonia per year.
Report also ranked high burden countries for under-5 Pneumonia & diarrhea deaths. Nigeria is leading deaths, where 321,596 under five children lost their lives in 2022. India with 146,558 ranks second while, Pakistan in on number 3 where 76,553 children died before their 5th birthday. Democratic Republic of the Congo 65,219. Ethiopia 45,436, Angola 28,784 Chad 28,621, Somalia 25,476 , Niger 25,237 , United Republic of Tanzania 24,870 , Mali 24,465, Bangladesh 18,844, Cameroon 18,498, Sudan 18,431 and Ivory Coast 16,586.
This year, all 15 countries failed to reach the Overall GAPPD score target of 86%. The mean Overall GAPPD score across all 15 countries was 50%, 1% more than last year. For 2023, Overall GAPPD scores ranged from 23% (Somalia) to 68% (Bangladesh and India). This year, no country experienced a decline in Overall GAPPD scores of greater than 1%, while 4 countries experienced an improvement in Overall GAPPD score.
Assistant professor of pediatric medicine King Edward Medical University (KEMU) Dr Kaleem Akhtar said that Pneumonia is a form of acute respiratory infection that is most commonly caused by viruses or bacteria. It can cause mild to life-threatening illness in people of all ages; however it is the single largest infectious cause of death in children worldwide.
Pneumonia is a form of acute respiratory infection that is most commonly caused by viruses or bacteria he said added that it can cause mild to life-threatening illness in people of all ages, however it is the single largest infectious cause of death in children worldwide.
