Last year, 1 million children around the world died of pneumonia. But perhaps the greater tragedy is that we have very effective tools to prevent and treat most cases of pneumonia, and the great majority of these children need not have died. All it would take is political will and a little imagination.
Pneumonia causes more deaths among small children than any other infectious agent, yet vaccines exist that protect against the leading causes of pneumonia — pneumococcal and haemophilus influenzae type b — and increased rates of breastfeeding and simple measures to reduce indoor air pollution from cooking provide further protection against infection.
For those children who do become sick with pneumonia, antibiotics can cure most cases and oxygen treatment can also prevent death.
About the author
Richard Francis
Richard Francis is global head of Sandoz, the generic drugs division of Novartis. He is a member of the Swiss pharmaceutical company's executive committee. He joined Sandoz after a 13-year career in U.S. biotechnology firm Biogen Idec, where he led the development of several drugs to treat multiple sclerosis. Prior to that, Francis worked for Sanofi in the United Kingdom.
