World Pneumonia Day 2024
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
RESOURCES
Events
- Launch of PCV, rotavirus, and malaria vaccines in Chad, Department of Health, Chad (French)
- Triple launch of PCV, rotavirus, and malaria vaccines in Chad, Action pour la Protection des Droits de l’Enfant (APDE)
- PRECISE: Promoting Rotavirus Vaccine and Pneumococcal conjugate vaccine for Enhanced Childhood Immunization and Safety, Vaccine Network for Disease Control
- Can we deliver pneumococcal vaccines at a lower cost? London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine
- 4th Global Conference for World Pneumonia Day, PneumoLight
- Lessons learned in the management of pediatric pneumonia in low- and middle-income countries, American Thoracic Society
- Climate Change and Respiratory Health, Every Breath Counts
- 2nd Annual Working Group Meeting, the Union Childhood Pneumonia Working Group
- Plenary, Child pneumonia diagnosis and management in low-and middle-income countries: Working towards 2030, The Union World Conference on Lung Health
- World Pneumonia Day: Ensuring Equity of Access, Murdoch Children’s Research Institute
- Prepare for the introduction of PCV! Somali Research and Development Institute (SORDI)
- Youth Pneumonia Advocacy Roundtable, West African Institute of Public Health
- PneumoLight campaign
- WHO RSV Roadshow Webinar Event Series, PATH, ReSViNET Foundation
- Launch of The Lifesaving Power of Pneumonia and Diarrhea Vaccines for Children, Child Health Taskforce
- Raising awareness about pneumonia vaccines in Haji Aden, Dadaab, Garissa County, Kenya, Organization for Pastoral Peace and Development (OPPD)
- Championing the Fight to Stop Pneumonia, Y-PEER Somalia
Initiatives
- RSV Chatbot, ReSViNET Foundation
- BME*-Konza Mobile App, Oxygen Alliance (*Biomedical Engineering)
- Regional Centers of Excellence for Biomedical Engineering, Ministries of Health Uganda, Malawi, and Nigeria
- Relaunch of the Children’s Automated Respiration rate Monitor (ChARM) device, ChARM International
- Pulse Oximetry Infographic Builder, Open Oximetry (coming)
- Oxygen Concentrator Directory, Oxygen Co-Lab
- Oxygen Financing Roundtable, PATH, Unitaid, Gates Foundation, Every Breath Counts
- Adara and FREO2: a partnership to save newborn lives, Adara Development, FREO2 Foundation
- 800 Neonatal Pulse Oximetry Sensors for Laos, DAK Foundation
- PCV Cost Calculator (updated), PATH
- PULMO2 Oxygen Concentrator, Drive DeVilbiss and Sanrai International
- WHO Flash Survey, World Health Organization
Media
- Malaria Vaccine in South Sudan – Now It’s Time for Life-Saving Pneumonia and Rotavirus Vaccines, South Sudanese Women in Medicine (SSWIM), AllAfrica
- Advancing Vaccine Affordability To Save Lives From Pneumonia, Serum Institute of India and PATH, Africa.com
- How COVID-19 unleashed a wave of medical oxygen innovation, Unitaid, World Economic Forum
- NGO calls for roll out of pneumonia vaccines in South Sudan, Impact Health Organization, The Dawn, South Sudan
- Miraya Breakfast Show – World Pneumonia Day! South Sudanese Women in Medicine (SSWIM)
Videos/podcasts
- No Vaccination Without Nutrition! Every Breath Counts
- RSV Chatbot Explainer, ReSViNET Foundation
- Securing equitable access to medical oxygen, Lancet Global Health Oxygen Commission at the World Health Summit
- CHAMPS – Child Health and Mortality Prevention Surveillance, Emory University
- Respiratory Syncytial Virus, The Lancet
- ION Ionic Oxygen Generator, Novair and American Oxygen
- The Oxygen Concentrator Directory: A New Resource for Oxygen Therapy Decision-Makers, COPD Foundation
- The Phefumla Pulse Oximeter designed for children in low-resource settings, Johns Hopkins University
- Elie and Didienne’s Stories, Niyel Change Creators
- PULMO2 Oxygen Concentrator, Drive DeVilbiss and Sanrai International
Reports
- The lifesaving power of pneumonia and diarrhea vaccines for children, Every Breath Counts
- Pneumonia and Diarrhea Progress Report Card 2024, International Vaccine Access Center (IVAC)
- Global Oxygen Strategic Framework and Investment Case, Global Oxygen Alliance (GO₂AL)
- Preventing child and maternal deaths: 2024 annual report to Congress, USAID
- Saving Children from Pneumonia in East and Southern Africa: Lessons from our Pneumonia Centenary Commitment, Save the Children
Articles (journal)
- Access to antibiotics for pneumonia and sepsis in low- and middle-income countries, Lancet Global Health
- World Pneumonia Day 2024: Fighting pneumonia and antimicrobial resistance, American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine
- Re-evaluating the impact and cost-effectiveness of pneumococcal conjugate vaccine introduction in 112 low-income and middle-income countries in children younger than 5 years: a modelling study, Lancet Global Health
- Global, regional, and national incidence and mortality burden of non-COVID-19 lower respiratory infections and aetiologies, 1990–2021, Lancet Infectious Diseases
- Global burden of bacterial antimicrobial resistance 1990–2021: a systematic analysis with forecasts to 2050, The Lancet
- RSV Series, The Lancet
- Access to highly effective long-acting RSV-monoclonal antibodies for children in LMICs—reducing global inequity, Lancet Global Health
- Spotlight Pneumonia Research, US CDC
- Post-tuberculosis lung disease: Addressing the policy gap, PLOS Global Public Health
Funding opportunities
Campaigns
- No Vaccination Without Nutrition! Every Breath Counts
- Call to Action for Fair Vaccine Prices, The World Society for Pediatric Infectious Diseases (WSPID)
- Call to Action: Expanding Access to Medicines, Child Health Taskforce, USAID
- RSV Communications Toolkit, PATH
- Debunking Common Myths About Pneumonia in Children, FREO2 Foundation
- Race for Vaccination, Niyel Change Creators
- Fatima’s Pneumonia Story, Vaccine Network for Disease Control
- Prioritize Funding for Pneumonia Vaccines, Vaccine Network for Disease Control
Blogs/Statements
- The Key to Progress Against Pneumonia? Investing in immunization, Gates Foundation
- Chad launches vaccination against malaria, pneumococcal disease and rotavirus diarrhea, Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance
- Chad launches pneumococcal vaccine in historic multi-vaccine rollout, Gavi the Vaccine Alliance
- Chad introduces malaria vaccine in triple-vaccine rollout for children, World Health Organization
- Why we need pneumonia vaccines in South Sudan: Kiden Poni’s child, Impact Health Organization
- Message from Executive Director Charles Gore on World Pneumonia Day, Medicines Patent Pool
- Advancing Child Health: Innovative RSV Prevention Strategies in LMICs, Medicines Patent Pool
- RSV vaccines: the latest success story, International AIDS Vaccine Initiative (IAVI)
- Breathing life into infant respiratory health: New RSV immunization tools and efforts to accelerate their path to global use, PATH
- Call for Urgent Action to Expand Access to Pneumonia Prevention and Treatment Worldwide, Forum of International Respiratory Societies (FIRS)
- Bridging the Oxygen Therapy Access Gap, Grand Challenges Canada
- Advancing Child Health: Innovative RSV Prevention Strategies in LMICs, Medicines Patent Pool
- US CDC reduces age for pneumococcal vaccination from 65 to 50 years, CDC
- Pulse Oximeter: The powerful device transforming child healthcare, Save the Children, Niger
- Pneumonia in Children: What you need to know, UNICEF
- Save Children’s Lives from Pneumonia Through Improved Access and Appropriate Use of Quality Amoxicillin, Medicines, Technologies, and Pharmaceutical Services (MTaPS) Program, USAID
Research
- BREATH – Building a Repository for Evaluation, Analysis, and Treatment for child respiratory Health, Massachusetts General Hospital, qure.ai, Every Breath Counts
- IMCI-PLUS – Point of Care Ultrasound for Pediatric Lower Respiratory Tract Infections in Sub-Saharan Africa, Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute and 14 partners
- Phefumla Pulse Oximeter designed for children in low-resource settings, Johns Hopkins University
- BLAAST – Bangladesh Lung Auscultation for Antibiotic Stewardship Trial, Johns Hopkins University (coming)
- Service-based models in oxygen — the benefits analysis, Better Futures Oxygen CoLab (coming)
ARTICLES
Climate change and respiratory health
Climate Change and Respiratory Health, brought together four leading experts – Heather Adair-Rohani from the World Health Organization (WHO), Rebecca Nantanda from Makerere University Lung Institute, Laura-Jane Smith from the British Thoracic Society, and John Sampson from Johns Hopkins University to explore different facets of...
11 December, 2024
Open Letter to The Global Fund Board: Access to medical oxygen
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...
19 November, 2024
Medical oxygen and the SDGs
“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...
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
Medical oxygen and respiratory pandemics
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
