Every Breath Counts is a global coalition of over 100 organizations representing the United Nations, non-government agencies, donor foundations, companies, and academic institutions supporting countries to reduce pneumonia deaths from all causes, across all ages. Members work together to help countries close critical gaps in pneumonia prevention, diagnosis, and treatment to save lives now and prepare for the next respiratory pandemic. This will accelerate achievement of the health-related Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030 and reduce the risk that another respiratory pandemic will trigger a tragic surge in pneumonia deaths, as COVID-19 did.
Respiratory infections are the world’s biggest infectious killer – claiming 2.2 million lives, including 502,000 children under five, in 2021, according to the latest Global Burden of Disease estimates. That’s 250 people dying every hour. Yet pneumonia remains a neglected disease and has been called a “global cause without champions” – one of the reasons the world was so blindsided by COVID-19, a pandemic of respiratory infection. COVID-19 added 10 million additional deaths in 2021, bringing the total number of respiratory infection-related deaths to a massive 12.2 million in that year, according to new estimates from the Global Burden of Disease. No other infectious condition caused anywhere near this burden of death. Respiratory infection-related deaths even surpassed deaths from heart disease and stroke during the pandemic!
Unless we take action now to reduce pneumonia deaths and the risk of another respiratory pandemic killing more than 10 million people – which experts say is 66% likely in the next 25 years – millions more adults and children will die from pneumonia. It won’t be easy. The global threats of climate change and antimicrobial resistance are increasingly undermining our ability to reduce pneumonia infections and deaths. Climate change increases air pollution, the leading risk factor for pneumonia death, and antibiotic resistant pneumonias are one of the largest contributors to the estimated 1.3 million deaths attributable to antimicrobial resistance that occur each year.
Our cause could not be more urgent. Join us!
Spotlight
Achievement of the Sustainable Development Goal for child survival may well rest on full coverage of three vaccines that protect against the two leading infectious killers of children – pneumonia and diarrhea.
Learn more in “The Lifesaving Power of Pneumonia and Diarrhea Vaccines,” a new report from Every Breath Counts in support of the Child Survival Action movement below.
New from Every Breath Counts
Global achievement of the child survival Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) of 25 child deaths for every 1,000 babies born is within reach by 2030 if under-vaccinated populations of children can be reached with the most lifesaving vaccines. A new report, “The Lifesaving Power of Pneumonia and Diarrhea Vaccines for Children,” shows how full coverage of just three vaccines – PCV, rotavirus, and Hib – can prevent hundreds of thousands of child deaths and bring the world much closer to ending preventable child deaths.
High Stakes Conversations!
Listen here to our second High Stakes Conversation on the lifesaving role of medical oxygen, this time for achievement of eight of nine Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), held on 27 June from 11:00 to 12:30pm Eastern US time. You can read the summary here.
Did you miss the first High Stakes Conversations on the lifesaving role of medical oxygen during respiratory pandemics, held on 30 April from 11:00 to noon Eastern US time? Fear not! You can watch the conversation here and read the summary here.
Hot Off the Press
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Every Breath Counts calls on governments to pay close attention to the trial data showing two doses of pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV) are as effective as three or more – with the potential to dramatically reduce the costs of PCV programs. More here
The HAPIN Trial publishes two important papers in the New England Journal of Medicine that question the connection between household air pollution’s impact on both childhood stunting and pneumonia. More here (stunting) and here (pneumonia)
Malaria Consortium and CHAI-led research using the Lives Saved Tool (LiST) estimated that full coverage (>90%) of pulse oximetry and medical oxygen, antibiotics, and vaccines could halve child pneumonia deaths in Ethiopia, Bangladesh, and Chad. More here
International Vaccine Access Center (IVAC) publishes a study showing 39 countries yet to introduce pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV) with conditions favorable for introduction in 27 of them. What are we waiting for? More here
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Vulnerable people
It is children and adults exposed to specific factors that are at greatest risk of dying from pneumonia. While the biggest risks for children are malnutrition, air pollution, and low birth weight/preterm birth, adults are more likely to die from pneumonia when exposed to air pollution and smoking, and when they lack access to handwashing facilities. People with multiple illnesses and conditions are also especially vulnerable. Lack of access to vaccination and timely, accurate diagnosis and treatment adds to these risks. Reducing pneumonia means identifying the populations who face the greatest risks and ensuring they are protected first.
Weak healthcare
Decades of underinvestment in preventing, diagnosing, and treating pneumonia followed by a punishing pandemic has left many countries with health systems that do not have the right equipment, the trained health care workers, and the engineers and technicians to effectively diagnose and treat respiratory infections. At the same time, patients are left to pay for sub-standard care they cannot afford. Many countries across Africa, Asia, and Latin America that are struggling with heavy burdens of pneumonia deaths urgently need more effective strategies to reduce these deaths now, and to prepare for the next respiratory pandemic.
Rising threats
While pneumonia deaths are falling overall (excluding COVID-19), driven by reductions among children, the pace is too slow to achieve the child survival Sustainable Development Goal by 2030. And pneumonia deaths are actually rising among adults, especially those aged over 50 years, driven by the triple threats of air pollution, smoking, and lack of access to handwashing. With climate change increasing the risks of death from infection, air pollution, and heat, with increasing urbanization and aging in many parts of the world, and another respiratory pandemic likely in the next decade, pneumonia is a rising threat that every government must be paying special attention to.
ARTICLES
How to make sure that medical oxygen is part of SDG achievement strategies?
“Apart from oxygen, name one other essential medicine that is a topline treatment for all but one of the conditions targeted by the health SDGs?” This was the focus of the second of three High Stakes Conversations on...
09 July, 2024
What do the new Global Burden of Disease estimates tell us about childhood pneumonia?
For the first time since global child mortality statistics have been collected, the end of child pneumonia deaths is in sight. New estimates from the Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study (GBD) show that the number of children dying from pneumonia dropped...
21 May, 2024
How can we be ready for the next respiratory pandemic?
This was the focus of the first of three High Stakes Conversations on the role of medical oxygen and respiratory therapies hosted by Every Breath Counts on 30 April 2024. The event, Respiratory Pandemics and Access to Medical Oxygen, brought together four leading experts on...
12 May, 2024
The promise of reduced dose pneumococcal vaccination for children
Pneumonia is the leading infectious cause of death in children under five and, as a result, the pneumococcal conjugate vaccine, or PCV, is one of the most lifesaving vaccines. However, just six in every ten children are protected with PCV well below the global target...
17 March, 2024
A2O2 Resource Library
The A2O2 Resource Library is a platform for all things oxygen - covering every aspect of the oxygen ecosystem from planning to equipment to patient care.
10 May, 2023
You paid WHAT?
For the 340 million adults and children who get sick with pneumonia each year, the costs of treatment can be catastrophic - as individuals and families are forced to pay out-of-pocket for healthcare. Every Breath Counts is launching a new campaign to document these crippling costs.
09 December, 2022
