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Fighting Pneumonia: Having the tools, lacking the initiative

Pneumonia, an acute lower respiratory disease that damages the lungs has caused the deaths of nearly two million childrenthereby called "the forgotten killer of children." Pneumonia's harmful impact has prompted the international community to express concern, as seen in A World Fit for ChildrenPlan of Action: Goals, Strategies and Actions. The report calls for a reductions "by one-third deaths due to acute respiratory infection between 2000 and 2010." In 2006, UNICEF and WHO jointly reaffirmed in Pneumonia: The Forgotten Killer of Children, that lessening the pneumonia death toll must be a global health priority. Simply recognizing pneumonia as the killer of more children than any other illness has been a significant first step in combating the disease.

As we enter a new decade, international health officials will need to move beyond recognition to action if they hope to reduce under-five deaths by 2015 as proclaimed in Millennium Development Goal 4. It will be impossible to avoid the huge epidemiological burden of pneumonia when addressing any global child-mortality reduction plan. There has to be further stress on a three-step approach to not only immediately diagnose the disease, but also acknowledge and respond to its symptoms.

First, professionals must be able to determine that the child is infected with pneumonia. Given only 1 out of 5 caregivers can correctly recognize the disease and promptly take action, increased awareness of pneumonia's symptoms is vital. While children often experience difficulty breathing, cough, chills, headaches, and decreased appetite, some young infants with pneumonia may display symptoms that are more extreme and deviate from this simple list. With occasional cases of young victims having convulsions, unconsciousness, hypothermia, and lethargy, one can see the complexity of pneumonia diagnosis. Medical personnel must be able to recognize the many symptoms of this illness, which depend on age and cause of infection. In order to address the public's lack of knowledge on the dangers of pneumonia, campaigns and educational programs must be promoted that target parents and professionals.

The second step requires infected children to find the treatment they need to survive the infection. Seeking appropriate care, however, is often blocked by schisms between the rich and poor in a particular nation. Children in powerful countries will receive advanced treatment, while children

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