Last week, stakeholders in the global health landscape gathered at the 2nd Global Forum on Childhood Pneumonia in Madrid, Spain, where new commitments to combat the condition that kills about 700,000 children yearly were announced.
At the forum, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation announced a new $200 million commitment to be awarded over the next 18 months to support the development and delivery of vaccines to prevent pneumonia, meningitis, and neonatal sepsis.
Keith Klugman, director for pneumonia and pandemic preparedness at the Gates Foundation, said most of the money would go toward the development of affordable vaccines. These include four vaccines to address some of the leading causes of childhood mortality: The next-generation pneumococcal conjugate vaccine, or PCV; a vaccine for respiratory syncytial virus, or RSV; a vaccine for Group B streptococcus, or GBS, and developing a vaccine for Klebsiella.
About the author
Paul Adepojupauladepoju
Paul Adepoju is a Nigeria-based Devex Contributing Reporter, academic, and author. He covers health and tech in Africa for leading local and international media outlets including CNN, Quartz, and The Guardian. He's also the founder of healthnews.africa. He is completing a doctorate in cell biology and genetics and holds several reporting awards in health and tech.
