World Pneumonia Day 2024

Partnerships for progress

Pneumonia is the single biggest infectious killer of adults and children – claiming the lives of 2.2 million, including 502,000 children under five, in 2021 according to the Global Burden of Disease. Pneumonia pathogens are also the most likely cause of the next pandemic, according to the latest Disease Control Priorities estimates.

The theme for World Pneumonia Day 2024 is Partnerships for Progress, and we are delighted to highlight organizations working together to reduce pneumonia deaths and pandemic risk. These partnerships work because they are focused on increasing coverage of the most lifesaving interventions in the countries where pneumonia deaths concentrate.

This is especially important for children under five, as the world is very close to achieving the Global Pneumonia Target of three child pneumonia deaths for every 1,000 babies born. To achieve this target, child pneumonia deaths need to fall from the current 502,000 per year to 397,000 – very achievable.

Further, success at reducing child pneumonia deaths will help countries achieve the broader Sustainable Development Goal for child survival (SDG 3.2) by the 2030 deadline. Currently, 64 countries are not on track to achieve the neonatal target (12 newborn deaths for every 1,000 babies born) and 52 countries are off-track to achieve the post-neonatal target (13 deaths among children aged 1-59 months for every 1,000 children aged 28 days). As pneumonia is a leading killer of children in both the neonatal (153,000 deaths) and post-neonatal (349,000 deaths) periods, reducing these deaths will have a major impact on both global targets.

But we cannot ignore pneumonia’s massive burden on adults, especially older adults and those with co-morbidities, and the risk of another respiratory pandemic killing millions.

The Partnerships for Progress highlighted this World Pneumonia Day include governments, global health agencies, foundations, industry, and CSOs joining forces to:

  • Introduce and scale more affordable PCV vaccines for children
  • Accelerate access to RSV vaccines for pregnant women and monoclonal antibodies for newborns
  • Integrate nutrition services with vaccine delivery
  • Improve the use of pulse oximetry and access to medical oxygen
  • Discover better tools to diagnose pneumonia (e.g., cough sounds, lung ultrasound, AI-enabled, etc.)
  • Invest in biomedical engineering capacity to ensure functionality of medical technologies in the health system to save lives now and prepare for the next pandemic
  • Mitigate the triple risks of respiratory pandemics, climate change, and antimicrobial resistance

Read more about World Pneumonia Day 2023, 2022, 2021, 2020, and 2019.

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ARTICLES
  • Dear Global Fund Board, The Global Fund must continue its vital work helping eligible countries close the massive gaps in access to medical oxygen that are stymying efforts to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and prepare for the next pandemic. Oxygen is an essential...

  • “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 the role of medical oxygen and global...

  • 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...

  • 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...

  • 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...

  • 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.