Pneumonia and why Africans need to do more to prevent child deaths.

Pneumonia accounts for 15% of the deaths of children below the age of 5 all around the world. It has been the major cause of child mortality in the world and it is especially high in sub-Saharan Africa and south Asia, killing an estimate of 922,000 children in 2015.

Pneumonia is an acute respiratory infection that affects the lungs; it is characterized by difficulty in breathing. Pneumonia can be caused by viruses, bacteria or fungi, with Streptococcus pneumoniae, and Haemophilus influenza being the commonest form of bacterial pneumonia infection, and Pneumocystis jiroveci the commonest form of viral pneumonia.

Symptoms of pneumonia are the same for bacterial and viral infections although they are usually more pronounced earlier in bacterial infections. Viral pneumonia infections usually display  symptoms more slowly. Some symptoms include; rapid breathing, chest pain, short breath, cough, fever and body ache.

Pneumonia in the under five population is a global issue, however it seems to be more prevalent in sub Saharan Africa due to public health related reasons. 

One major problem faced in combating pneumonia infection in children is its early and accurate diagnosis. This has led to a project called Pneumonia diagnostic project,which is funded by the Bill and Melinda gates foundation.

Pneumonia diagnostic is a project that aims at identifying accurate, acceptable, scalable and user-friendly respiratory rate timers and pulse oximeters for the diagnosis of pneumonia symptoms in children by community health workers and first level  health facility workers in four low-income countries. 

Another challenge is that most care givers do not recognize the signs and symptoms of this deadly disease and this often results in late presentation, diagnosis and treatment with increased morbidity and mortality.
 
The good news is that Pneumonia can be prevented by immunization. An immunization against pneumococcus could save the lives of millions of African children. Governmental and non-governmental organizations could design initiatives to scale up immunization efforts against this killer disease.

Concerning the prompt treatment of this disease, potent and effective antibiotics could be made available in public health facilities at cheap and affordable rates, while efforts to train community health workers and first level health workers continue. 

Access to health care should also be improved as this would aid in early presentation and detection which would also result in prompt treatment and an overall reduction in the morbidity and mortality due to this disease.

More awareness campaigns and activity need to be carried out, to teach care givers to identify this disease early and seek prompt treatment. 

The health of the under five population has a major correlation with the future of a society, we cannot afford to become complacent. The decisions we take today as regards the health of the under five population go a long way in determining the future of our continent.

Take action today against Pneumonia!
 
Written by: Jimoh Waliu