Pneumonia kills two children per hour in Somalia though it takes $0.5 to treat
More than two children die every hour in Somalia out of pneumonia even though it takes as little as $50 cents to keep the disease at bay, a new report by Save the Children has said.
The report, Fighting for Breath indicates that in 2015 alone, 14,561 children died of the pneumonia translating to 24% of all under five mortality in Somalia.
The disease which is a form of acute lower respiratory tract infection is exacerbated by malnutrition and food shortage- twin conditions afflicting Somalia owing to the ongoing drought which has subjected over half of the population into a food crisis.
“The situation is worse in Somalia. Food shortages as a result of drought in the country has left millions of children malnourished; making them more vulnerable to diseases including pneumonia, said Abdiqafar Hange, the Area Representative for Save the Children Puntland. “We are doing all it takes to save these children. We should not ignore pneumonia at this critical time.
Speaking during the launch of the report in Garowe, Puntland Thursday, the state health minister Dr. Abdinasir Osman Isse said tackling the disease requires collaborative efforts between state and non-state actors.
“The Government has prioritized prevention and treatment of pneumonia. However we cannot do it alone. We need all the key stakeholders to join efforts and ensure children have access to quality health services at all levels of service delivery,” said Dr. Isse.
The report calls for early childhood preventive measures including adequate breastfeeding, good nutrition and protecting the young from pollution.
“Good nutrition in the womb and in the earliest days after birth greatly reduces the risk of severe pneumonia. Exclusive breastfeeding in the first six months has the power of an effective vaccine – and continued breastfeeding with the gradual introduction of complementary food up until two years of age or beyond is another risk-reducer.”
Ensuring that children’s lungs are not subjected to household air pollution and or potentially dangerous microbes from unsafe water are also powerful sources of protection, the report says.
A report by Lancet in October indicated Somalia recorded the highest pollution related in the global with 316 out of every 1000 deaths associated to pollution.
Save the Children is calling for 166 million under-twos to be immunized and for action to help 400 million worldwide with no access to health care. Half of all mothers in Africa have no health care around the time of birth.
Pneumococcal vaccines (PCVs) could prevent the overwhelming majority of bacterial pneumonia cases, but 170 million children in developing countries are unimmunised.
Pneumonia is a form of acute lower respiratory tract infection that occurs when viruses, bacteria or other micro-organisms cause inflammation of the lungs. Most severe or fatal pneumonia is caused by bacteria. However, viral and bacterial pneumonia often interact, with the former creating conditions that make bacterial infection more likely, or more severe.