India has highest child deaths due to pneumonia and diarrhoea

The International Vaccine Access Center (IVAC) at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health in America released its annual progress report, the ‘2015 Pneumonia and Diarrhoea Progress Report: Sustainable Progress in the Post-2015 Era’ with this year’s theme being ‘Sustainable Progress in the Post-2015 Era’.

This report documents the progress of the 15 countries experiencing the greatest burden of pneumonia and diarrhoea. Despite the progress India is making to accelerate immunisation, it remains the country with the highest burden of pneumonia and diarrhoea deaths amongst children under five years of age.

“This year's Pneumonia and Diarrhoea Report demonstrates the need for sustainable progress as we move beyond 2015 toward achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). This means increasing equitable access to vaccines, diagnostic tools and medication to prevent unnecessary pneumonia and diarrhoea deaths," said Kate O'Brien, Professor, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and Executive Director of IVAC.

Progress in countries is evaluated through ‘Global Action Plan for Prevention and Control of Pneumonia and Diarrhoea (GAPPD) intervention scores’ a calculated average of coverage levels for the vital interventions outlined in the World Health Organisation (WHO) and UNICEF’s integrated GAPPD.

Vaccine introductions and scale ups, promotion of exclusive breastfeeding for the first six months of a child’s life, increasing access to appropriate pneumonia treatment, and ensuring sustainability for the post-2015 agenda are all required to put an end to these preventable diseases.

Key findings from the report:

• Fifteen years after PCV’s first introduction in 2000, five of the highest burden countries (India, Indonesia, Chad, China and Somalia) are still not using the vaccine in their routine immunisation programmes.

• Of the 10 GAPPD interventions evaluated in the report, pneumonia and diarrhoea treatment tend to have the lowest coverage rates; some countries are not reporting any data at all, creating blind spots on progress and programme performance.

• To meet the SDG of ending preventable deaths of neonates and under-five children by 2030 and achieving high coverage of GAPPD interventions in places where the most children are dying of preventable causes is undoubtedly needed.