World Pneumonia Day 2020

World Pneumonia Day 2020

12 November - held this year in the midst of a global pandemic that has dramatically increased pneumonia deaths from COVID-19 and other causes.

The COVID-19 pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic

COVID-19 spreads to countries with high child pneumonia deaths

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Championing the fight to stop pneumonia

Pneumonia is the world’s biggest infectious killer of adults and children – claiming one child every 50 seconds. Yet pneumonia remains a neglected disease – a “global cause without champions”.

COVID-19 could add 1.9 million to the death toll.  But the massive effort to control the pandemic is also an opportunity – to reduce all deaths from respiratory illnesses, especially for women and children.

Unless we take action now, it’s estimated that almost 6 million children will die from pneumonia over the next decade.

The Every Breath Counts Coalition

The Every Breath Counts Coalition is the world’s first public-private partnership supporting low- and middle-income countries to reduce pneumonia deaths, including from COVID-19.

The global coalition of UN agencies, businesses, donors and NGOs have committed to supporting governments in countries with some of the highest burden of pneumonia. The 48 members provide support to close the critical gaps in pneumonia prevention, diagnosis and treatment, which could save hundreds of thousands of lives each year.

Read more about the coalition

World Pneumonia Day

World Pneumonia Day, marked every year on 12 November, was established by the Stop Pneumonia Initiative in 2009 to raise awareness about the toll of pneumonia – a leading killer of children around the world – and to advocate for global action to protect against, help prevent and effectively treat this deadly illness.

Read more about World Pneumonia Day 2020

News & updates

New global data, in-country success stories, op-eds from experts. You can find it all here.

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We all have a role to play in ending preventable child pneumonia deaths by 2030