Thanks for Speaking Up Against Pneumonia

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23 Nov Thanks for Speaking Up Against Pneumonia

Posted at 11:26h in Blog by

Article posted on November 23, 2016.

Child health advocates use their voices to break the silence about the global burden of pneumonia.

Fast Facts

  • IVAC launched the #PneumoniaFumbler Challenge to raise awareness during World Pneumonia Day.
  • Future public health leaders at JHSPH joined in the fun advocacy effort.
  • We need more voices to stop pneumonia, a disease so common that its deadly nature is overlooked by policy makers.

By: Dignamartha Kakkanattu, Social Media & Communications Assistant, International Vaccine Access Center

During Thanksgiving in the U.S., much well-deserved gratitude goes to the obvious all-stars in our lives: family, friends, teachers. But one group that doesn’t seem to get enough thanks are child health advocates. During World Pneumonia Day on November 12, they broke the silence on pneumonia, the leading infectious killer of children under 5.

As an aspiring health advocate, I’ve had the opportunity to work with the Stop Pneumonia team at the International Vaccine Access Center to help turn up the volume. How? We created the Pneumonia Fumbler Challenge, which asked people to say the following tongue twister five times fast for the under-fives: Pretty please prevent pneumonia to protect precious lives.

 

Advocates, and children, who accepted the challenge lent their voices to the scores of children who have a high likelihood of catching and dying from pneumonia: the poorest of the poor in developing countries. In 2015, approximately 920,000 children died from pneumonia—ending more young lives than Zika, Ebola, malaria, tuberculosis, and HIV combined.

Among participants around the world were future public health professionals—my classmates—at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. They took on the Pneumonia Fumbler Challenge while attending a World Pneumonia Day reception co-hosted by the Child Health Society. Through a little confusion and lots of laughter, the students shed light on the need to stop pneumonia in order to improve child health globally.

We need more voices to bring attention to pneumonia, a disease so common that its deadly nature is overlooked by country leaders and policy makers. We need voices to ensure that protective and preventive interventions—such as breastfeeding, adequate nutrition, and vaccines—are available to children in developing countries. We need voices to educate health professionals and caregivers about identifying pneumonia in its early stages. We need voices to secure treatment measures, such as amoxicillin and oxygen therapy, in low-resource settings.

 

The Pneumonia Fumbler was just one fun way to remind the world that all children should have resources to achieve good health and avoid preventable diseases, such as pneumonia. This Thanksgiving, I’m grateful to everyone who participated, and for the countless other campaigns and events advocates organized. Thank you for your voice—and the opportunity to amplify it worldwide.

 

Dignamartha Kakkanattu is an MSPH student at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health working on pneumonia advocacy at the International Vaccine Access Center.  

Recommended Reading

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To My Fellow Pediatricians: You Are Advocates Too

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Making Vaccines Work to Prevent Pneumonia