09 Jun When it comes to Pneumonia – Every Second Counts
Up to 935,000 children are dying from pneumonia each year.
Too many children are dying every day from pneumonia, when most of these deaths can be prevented. Pneumonia is the leading infectious killer of children under 5, and the vast majority of these deaths occur in developing countries where resources are limited.
Quick care seeking from parents and correct diagnosis from frontline health workers are the first steps in preventing these deaths.
That’s why new pneumonia communication and training kits have been developed to help educate caregivers and frontline health workers so that they can be armed with the knowledge and skills needed to save lives. Specifically, the multi-media kits are designed to help these audiences to recognise the signs and symptoms of pneumonia and take the appropriate action.
The multi-media kits are simple to use and freely available to anyone—charities manufacturers, governments—working in the fight to reduce childhood deaths from pneumonia. The kits are available in different regional/cultural variations, languages, and can be further adapted to suit local needs.
This allows organisations to activate programs at a much lower cost and more quickly – because when it comes to pneumonia – Every Second Counts.
The development and dissemination of the kits is under the UN Commission on Life-Saving Commodities for Women and Children.
The kits are already being adopted in several countries including Uganda and Nigeria.
The resources are being well-received by organisations as it allows them to get on with the job of saving lives in their communities:
“The information is well organized, comprehensive and uses a simple language that everyone can understand. The pictures draw attention for participants to follow the training and storytelling” – Tanzania
Frontline health workers are loving the new materials:
“The message is so clear and well illustrated that a lot of mothers will change their behaviors” – DRC
“The message of the story is very attractive and true. If we know about pneumonia, its causes, when to return for treatment, when to prescribe medicine, how to prevent pneumonia we can provide service easily to pneumonia affected children.” Tanzania
While the hard work in preventing childhood deaths due to pneumonia is still in front of us, these kits are already helping to accelerate progress.
More information and the resources can be found here:
www.lifesavingcommodities.org/pneumonia