• Fight pneumonia. Save a child.
in page functions

  • On 12 November 2012, the world will recognise the fourth annual World Pneumonia Day.

    Pneumonia is the leading killer of children under the age of five worldwide – responsible for nearly one in five global child deaths annually. In 2011 alone, 1.3 million young children died from this preventable and treatable illness. Yet many of these lives could be saved by simple interventions such as vaccination against the most common causes of pneumonia.

    World Pneumonia Day aims to increase awareness about pneumonia. It was created in 2009 by the Global Coalition against Child Pneumonia, of which GAVI is a founding member. 

    On the first World Pneumonia Day, the World Health Organization and the United Nations Children’s Fund, together with GAVI and partners, launched the Global Action Plan for Prevention and Control of Pneumonia (GAPP).

    This plan focuses on increasing access to vaccines, improving nutrition (through measures such as exclusive breastfeeding), reducing exposure to indoor air pollution, and increasing access to antimicrobial drugs that can treat pneumonia.

  • Stop Pneumonia

  • 21 GAVI-eligible countries have now introduced pneumococcal vaccines

    In December 2010, Nicaragua became the first GAVI-eligible country to introduce pneumococcal vaccine into its routine immunisation programme, less than a year after it was introduced in rich countries. Since then, 21 countries have introduced this life-saving tool. By 2015, GAVI and its partners aim to immunise 90 million children with pneumococcal vaccines in more than 50 countries.

  • Nicaragua was the first GAVI eligible country to introduce on the 12th December 2010 pneumococcal vaccines which prevents against the most deadly form of pneumonia.

    In January 2011, Yemen launched pneumococcal vaccines. Pneumonia was the leading killer of children under five with acute respiratory diseases accounting for 20 to 23 per cent of the country’s infant deaths.

    Ghana became the first African country in April 2012 to introduce pneumococcal and rotavirus vaccines at the same time, simultaneously tackling the leading causes of the world’s two biggest childhood killers – pneumonia and diarrhoea.

    As a first step in the rollout of the national pneumococcal immunisation programme, Rwanda successfully introduced the pneumococcal vaccine in 2009 and switched to GAVI-supported vaccines in September 2011.

    The introduction in October 2012 of the pneumococcal vaccine in Pakistan is an important milestone in the fight to reduce the burden caused by pneumonia.

  • 120 million children immunised against Hib disease

    In addition to pneumococcal disease, Haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib), is a second leading cause of pneumonia. By the end of 2012, nearly all GAVI-eligible countries will have introduced the Hib vaccine with GAVI support, immunising a cumulative 120 million children. 

  • 12 July 2012

    DPR Korea introduces pentavalent vaccine

    DPR Korea introduces pentavalent vaccine

     Democratic People’s Republic of Korea will continue to co-finance GAVI vaccines.

    23 April 2012

    School children celebrate WIW

    Haiti celebrates post-earthquake vaccine success story

    Just two years after a catastrophic earthquake shattered its public health system, Haiti has marked the launch of World Immunization Week by launching a nationwide vaccination campaign.

    16 May 2011

    Pentavalent vaccine saves lives in Madagascar

    Linked to increasing immunisation coverage with vaccines such as the pentavalent, Madagascar is one of just six countries in the world to reduce its child mortality rates by more than 60% between 1990 and 2009.

    01 May 2011

    Pentavalent vial

    Kyrgyzstan finds one vaccine is better than five

    When Kyrgyz doctors first started using the pentavalent vaccine in 2009, officials in the Central Asian nation s health ministry noticed immunisation coverage rates were going down. But the doctors' initial fears turned out to be the vaccine's greatest strength.

    09 April 2008

    Gavi item

    Australia and Papua New Guinea launch efforts to crush deadly Hib disease in Pacific region

    New vaccine rollout through the GAVI Alliance expected to help extinguish childhood killer. Papua New Guinea will begin immunising children this month with a vaccine that promises to rid the nation of Haemophilus Influenzae type b, or Hib disease, one of the deadliest causes of meningitis and pneumonia. 

  • The Pneumococcal AMC

    The pneumococcal Advance Market Commitment (AMC) is an innovative way to make effective and affordable pneumococcal vaccines available for children in developing countries.

    The AMC provides incentives for manufacturers to produce large quantities of pneumococcal vaccine which can then reach developing countries as much as a decade earlier than they historically would have done. The AMC is funded by Canada, Italy, Norway, the Russian Federation, the United Kingdom and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

    Read the 2012 Pneumococcal AMC Annual Report. It provides an extensive description of the first achievements of this innovative initiative: the first introductions of pneumococcal vaccines in GAVI countries.

  • Did you know

     

    • Pneumonia kills 1.3 million children under five. It is the number one killer of children
      under age 5 worldwide – responsible for nearly one in five global child deaths annually.
    • We now have the vaccines to prevent one of the leading causes of child deaths and they are on their way to the kids who need them most.
    • Immunisation is one of the best ways to protect thousands of children against pneumococcal disease which is the leading cause of pneumonia; along with optimal breastfeeding practices and adequate nutrition, handwashing with soap and water, safe drinking water and basic sanitation, among other measures.
    • World Pneumonia Day, on 12 November, is an opportunity to highlight the power of vaccines to prevent millions of child deaths and to celebrate the historic achievements of the rapid introduction of these vaccines to combat pneumonia. No child should die of a disease we can prevent.
    • Together we can ensure that everyone works together to make pneumonia a priority. Join the Global Coalition against Child Pneumonia.

close icon

modal window here