World Pneumonia Day is being observed throughout the world today. This is an annual event which is held on Nov 12 to raise awareness of pneumonia, promote prevention and treatment, and generate action to fight the illness.
‘World Pneumonia Day supports all efforts made to protect and treat people against pneumonia, the single largest cause of child deaths worldwide,’ said World Health Organisation.
This day also provides an annual forum for the world to stand together and demand action in the fight against pneumonia. More than 100 organizations representing the interests of children had joined forces as the Global Coalition against Child Pneumonia to hold the first World Pneumonia Day on Nov 2, 2009.
Unawareness is to such an extent that few people in the developed world would ever guess that pneumonia kills more children under the age of 5 than any other disease. This serious respiratory infection takes the lives of nearly a million children each year, with the vast majority of these deaths occurring in developing countries.
