Pneumonia takes more of our children’s lives than any other disease. Each year, it is responsible for the deaths of nearly 26,000 Bangladeshi children under age five.
We have many of the tools to prevent children form deaths. Routine vaccination, exclusive breastfeeding in the first six months of life, adequate nutrition, regular hand-washing and a home environment free of cook stove smoke can all help prevent and protect our children from pneumonia. If they do become ill, early diagnosis and treatment with antibiotics can mean the difference between life and death. On these fronts, as a nation, we have much work to do.
Recent data indicates only 43 percent of Bangladeshi children are exclusively breastfed for their first six months, which fortifies their immune systems against infectious threats. Only 37 percent are taken to a health care facility when they have a suspected case of Pneumonia and only 22 percent receive antibiotic treatment when they are sick. This is simply unacceptable.
Also unacceptable is the fact that safe and effective vaccines to combat pneumococcal disease, the most prevalent cause of Pneumonia, exist — and they are beginning to be introduced by countries with challenges similar to our own — but our children are not yet close to receiving this lifesaving intervention.
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