World Pneumonia day is celebrated on 12 Novemeber every year. The day was first commemorated in the year 2009 with an aim to highlight the complications and issues related to Pneumonia. According to WHO, pneumonia is more severe in children less than 5 years of age and precautions must be taken to prevent the disease.
According Mayo Clinic, pneumonia is a condition which affects the lungs and results in aggravation in air sacs of one or both lungs. This may happen due to the lungs being filled with discharge or liquids. The symptoms can be mild to severe. Kids younger than 5 and adults older than 65 years are more at risk of suffering from pneumonia.
Let's know more about the history, significance and theme for World Pneumonia Day 2021.
World Pneumonia Day: History
Pneumonia is an infectious disease which affected 2.5 million people across the world, including 672,000 children in 2019. Pneumonia day was established by the Global Coalition Against Child Pneumonia in the year 2009.
Global Coalition Against Child Pneumonia is an association of government, non-government, community-based, educational and research based organisations. In the year of its establishment pneumonia was the cause of 1.2 million child deaths per year.
According to the Integrated Action Plan for Prevention and Control for Pneumonia in 2013 by WHO and UNICEF, the aim is to reduce the number of deaths caused by pneumonia and to bring it down to 3 deaths per 1000 children by the year 2025.
World Pneumonia Day: Significance
According to the John Hopkins Centre of Public Health, there were 1,58,176 deaths due to pneumonia in the year 2016 and the leading factor for this has been indoor air pollution, non-exclusive breast feeding, air pollution, low birth weight and malnutrition.
World Pneumonia Day is celebrated to raise awareness about the disease, its harmful affects, causes and how it can be prevented or treated. It aims at reducing the deaths due to the fatal disease with the help of proactive and sustainable global efforts.
The aim is to bring the life-threatening disease under public's eye to collect more funds for research, to encourage organisations to step up while they fight against the disease, and to reduce fatality.
World Pneumonia Day: Theme for 2021
World Pneumonia Day 2021 is dedicated to fight against the disease and reduce the burden of disease on health organisations. If the fight against pneumonia is successful, 9 million child deaths can be averted 2030.
The COVID pandemic has meant that low number of oxygen cylinders may be available to under-5 children in low-income countries. The aims is to increase the supply of affordable medicines and oxygen cylinders to prevent and fight the disease.
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