speech on awareness of pneumonia
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As we take a moment on World Pneumonia Day to acknowledge the progress that has been made to fight the disease among children, we must also recognize and prepare for the long journey ahead to reach the target levels established by the Millennium Development Goals for child survival.
According to a Pneumonia Report Cardreleased today by the International Vaccine Access Center (IVAC) on behalf of the Global Coalition against Child Pneumonia, the disease is responsible for more than 1.5 million deaths annually among children under the age of five. The Report Card, which evaluated the pneumonia deaths against the pneumonia intervention targets established in the Global Action Plan for the Prevention and Control of Pneumonia (GAPP), found that children in the 15 countries evaluated were anywhere from 17 to 400 times more likely to die of the disease, compared with children living in the United States.
“Every 20 seconds, a child dies from pneumonia. That’s 4,300 young lives lost every day, and nearly all of those are children from developing countries. We can prevent this tragedy,” Helen Evans, acting CEO of the GAVI Alliance, said. She added, “Safe, effective vaccines exist that can save lives and also set up millions more children in the world's poorest countries for a healthy start to life. With the political will, we can fund those vaccines and other measures to turn the tide against pneumonia.”
The GAPP recommended that countries reach 90 percent coverage on seven prevention, protection and treatment interventions by 2015 in order to reach the MDG targets; however, the Report Card found that country scores range from 23 percent to 61 percent on these measures combined.
In order to reach the target levels of coverage for the life-saving interventions that can prevent, protect against and treat pneumonia in children, we need the political will but also cohesive advocacy that illustrates the successes of the past and challenges that remain. Although K4Health is primarily focused on family planning, reproductive health, and HIV/AIDS, we understand that global health is interconnected and should not be done in silos.
For our part, K4Health’s Photoshare in partnership with IVAC and the Global Coalition against Child Pneumonia organized the 2010 Photoshare World Pneumonia Day Photography Contest to tell the story of pneumonia through photography. The collection was juried by Nick Kristof of the New York Times, Ann Curry of NBC News, and a professional photojournalist. Photoshare is a service that aims to help NGOs communicate and advocate for health and development through photography, and hopefully increase the will necessary to fight diseases like pneumonia.
Urgent efforts are needed to reach the targets for child survival, but also all the MDGs established 10 years ago. If we are to accomplish what we set out to do, we need to communicate more effectively. Hopefully, through services like Photoshare, as well as the tireless work of organizations like IVAC and the Global Coalition against Child Pneumonia, we can provide the needed interventions and save the lives of children worldwide.
We welcome you to browse the Photoshare collection, request images for non-profit educational use, and learn more about development photography on our website. Most importantly, we invite you to share your own photos. The scope and quality of the Photoshare collection depends entirely on the generosity of those who are willing to freely share their photos as a way to help advance the work of public health professionals and organizations around the world.
According to a Pneumonia Report Cardreleased today by the International Vaccine Access Center (IVAC) on behalf of the Global Coalition against Child Pneumonia, the disease is responsible for more than 1.5 million deaths annually among children under the age of five. The Report Card, which evaluated the pneumonia deaths against the pneumonia intervention targets established in the Global Action Plan for the Prevention and Control of Pneumonia (GAPP), found that children in the 15 countries evaluated were anywhere from 17 to 400 times more likely to die of the disease, compared with children living in the United States.
“Every 20 seconds, a child dies from pneumonia. That’s 4,300 young lives lost every day, and nearly all of those are children from developing countries. We can prevent this tragedy,” Helen Evans, acting CEO of the GAVI Alliance, said. She added, “Safe, effective vaccines exist that can save lives and also set up millions more children in the world's poorest countries for a healthy start to life. With the political will, we can fund those vaccines and other measures to turn the tide against pneumonia.”
The GAPP recommended that countries reach 90 percent coverage on seven prevention, protection and treatment interventions by 2015 in order to reach the MDG targets; however, the Report Card found that country scores range from 23 percent to 61 percent on these measures combined.
In order to reach the target levels of coverage for the life-saving interventions that can prevent, protect against and treat pneumonia in children, we need the political will but also cohesive advocacy that illustrates the successes of the past and challenges that remain. Although K4Health is primarily focused on family planning, reproductive health, and HIV/AIDS, we understand that global health is interconnected and should not be done in silos.
For our part, K4Health’s Photoshare in partnership with IVAC and the Global Coalition against Child Pneumonia organized the 2010 Photoshare World Pneumonia Day Photography Contest to tell the story of pneumonia through photography. The collection was juried by Nick Kristof of the New York Times, Ann Curry of NBC News, and a professional photojournalist. Photoshare is a service that aims to help NGOs communicate and advocate for health and development through photography, and hopefully increase the will necessary to fight diseases like pneumonia.
Urgent efforts are needed to reach the targets for child survival, but also all the MDGs established 10 years ago. If we are to accomplish what we set out to do, we need to communicate more effectively. Hopefully, through services like Photoshare, as well as the tireless work of organizations like IVAC and the Global Coalition against Child Pneumonia, we can provide the needed interventions and save the lives of children worldwide.
We welcome you to browse the Photoshare collection, request images for non-profit educational use, and learn more about development photography on our website. Most importantly, we invite you to share your own photos. The scope and quality of the Photoshare collection depends entirely on the generosity of those who are willing to freely share their photos as a way to help advance the work of public health professionals and organizations around the world.
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