World's deadliest disease Every two children die from pneumonia

Pneumonia kills nearly one million children every year worldwide

Every year millions of people worldwide die from pneumonia. The infectious disease affects mainly older and very young people. According to experts, two children under the age of five die of pneumonia every minute. And that although a treatment costs only a few cents.

Pneumonia requires more deaths than any other disease

"Pneumonia is causing more deaths in children worldwide than any other disease - more than malaria, diarrhea and measles combined," Save the Children writes in a fact sheet on its latest report, "Fighting for Breath." , It states that pneumonia is a "poverty disease". Millions of children could be saved.

Pneumonia is causing more deaths in children worldwide than any other disease. The majority of deaths are recorded in the poorest countries in the world, especially in Africa. Millions of children could be saved with simple measures. (Image: dr322 / fotolia.com)

Every minute two children die of pneumonia

According to a report released by the Children's Rights Organization on the occasion of the World Day for the Control of Pneumonia (November 12), a total of 920,000 children under the age of five died of pneumonia in 2015 - two children every minute.

No other disease is responsible for more deaths in children at this age. The majority of deaths, according to experts, have been recorded in the world's poorest countries, such as Somalia, Chad and Angola.

More than 80 percent of deaths occur in children under the age of two. Often these babies have a weakened immune system due to malnutrition or inadequate breast milk and are therefore unable to fight the infection.

Newborns are particularly at risk - also because more than half of all mothers in Africa receive no health care before, during or after delivery.

Save millions of children's lives

"The disease makes the affected infants terribly gasp for breath and their parents often despair of fear or unfortunately too often with incredible pain and sadness, when the children lose the fight against pneumonia," said Susanna Krüger, CEO of Save the Children Germany , in a message.

"It's unacceptable that we have so many young lives destroyed by a disease, even though we know how to avoid and treat it," Krüger said.

In the report, the child protection organization outlines a scenario that will enable over five million child lives to be saved by 2030 - because pneumonia is both preventable and treatable:

Thus, pneumonia can be prevented by a pneumococcal vaccine, and after an infection drugs are available. A treatment with antibiotics costs only 0.34 euros and can cure a sick child in three to five days.

Cheaper prices for vaccines required

"The report clearly shows that these measures are effective and that the number of deaths between 2000 and 2015 has already been reduced by 47 percent," the experts write in their fact sheet.

"However, the progress is too slow: The decline in child mortality due to pneumonia lags behind the successes in the fight against other life-threatening infectious diseases for children," it continues.

In order to combat the alarming number of preventable deaths and save millions of child lives, Save the Children is calling for cheaper vaccine prices.

In addition, the experts call on the governments of the affected and donor countries to put the fight against pneumonia on top of the political agenda.

Preventive vaccination

In Germany, the risks of pneumonia are often underestimated. In order to prevent pneumonia, it should, according to doctors against pneumococci, the most common causative agent of bacterial pneumonia, vaccinated.

This protective measure is also highlighted in the revised vaccination recommendations of the Standing Vaccination Commission at the Robert Koch Institute (STIKO).

A statement by the RKI states: "Pneumococci are the main cause of bacterial pneumonia in Europe. The STIKO estimates that more than 5,000 people in Germany die each year as a result of pneumococcal disease." (Ad)