TINY LUNGS, BIG BATTLE

By Derrick Obiye Mokaya

Pneumonia is a significant health concern to children because it kills more children than any other infectious disease. Many people associate pneumonia with the elderly, but it is actually the biggest infectious killer disease amongst children worldwide. Every year pneumonia claims the lives of 725,000 children under the age of 5, including around 190,000 newborns, who are particularly vulnerable to infection according to the United Nations International Children’s Fund reports.

Pneumonia is an acute respiratory infection of the lungs that inflames the air sacs in one or both lungs known as alveoli. It does not have a single cause-it can develop from either bacteria, viruses or fungi in the air. When a child is infected, their lungs get inflamed may fill with fluid or pus and becomes difficult to breathe. Children whose immune systems are immature (i.e. newborns or premature babies) along with those with poor immunities (i.e. due to undernourishment or diseases like HIV) are more vulnerable to pneumonia.

Most common symptoms of pneumonia are coughing, trouble in breathing and fever. Children with pneumonia usually experience fast breathing, wheezing sounds during breathing, bluish skin or lips, poor feeding and hypothermia or fever. It is contagious and can be spread through airborne particles (a cough or sneeze). Can also be spread through other fluids like blood during childbirth or from contaminated surfaces.

Countries with the largest number of child pneumonia deaths are concentrated in the sub-saharan Africa and Asia. Within these countries it is most deprived and marginalized children who suffer the most. They often have limited or no access to basic health services and are more likely to suffer from other health threats like malnutrition, infectious diseases and polluted air. They often live in fragile and humanitarian settings where often risk factors increase and health systems break down.

Preventing pneumonia amongst children is possible through increasing protective measures, such as ensuring newborns and young children are breastfed early, vaccinated, have access to clean water, good nutrition, clean indoor air or limited exposure to air pollution, seek prompt medical care and most importantly promote community awareness on the symptoms of pneumonia and the importance of seeking healthcare quickly.

Swift action and investments are required to ensure that no child dies from pneumonia and other preventable or treatable diseases, this includes: reducing risk factors, protecting children’s immune systems and ensuring all children have access to good quality healthcare free at the point of use with well trained and equipped health workers.

UNICEF is calling for strengthening and prioritization of routine immunization and scaling up coverage of PVC, measles and DTP vaccines to above 90% to ensure every child is protected from pneumonia. The governments’ role in the fight is to create vaccination programs, generate policy frameworks to curb pneumonia amongst children, give healthcare access to widely for effective mobilization. On the other hand, non-governmental organizations have provided funding for vaccinations and medical supplies and provision of research and data statistics for pneumonia and possible strategies to help in ministering it.