Pneumonia is biggest killer of children, yet stakeholders unconcerned, says SCI

Despite the threat pose by Pneumonia as the foremost killer of children under five, stakeholders have continued to pay little attention to the disease.

The Chief of Party, Save the Children International Inspiring Project, Dr Adamu Isa, disclosed this during the donation of Infection Prevention and Control materials to 23 Primary Healthcare Centres and two general hospitals in Ikorodu, Lagos.

“It is based on information and statistics from various sources including UNICEF. Childhood Pneumonia is the biggest killer of children under the age of five. But the sad reality is, people do not know much about it and it cut across policymakers, caregivers, ordinary people, and medical professionals. If you ask people, they will say malaria is the biggest killer, but that is not really the case,” Isa said in a statement.

“So, as a result of poor understanding of the statistics and the reality on ground, many cases of pneumonia are neglected and under-reported and people do not seem to pay more attention to it, because you do not pay attention to things you do not know.”

According to Isa, it is the reason, 60 health workers in Ikorodu have been trained with the plans to train 140 more.

He also revealed that in the last 15 years, there has been appreciable reduction in death cases associated with childhood diseases like diarrhea, measles and malaria, which are declining significantly, but which is not the case with pneumonia.

The Medical Officer of Health, Ikorodu Local Council, Dr. Oludolapo Sotunde, thanked the Save the Children International for the donation, as it would help the health workers to be efficient on duty, as well as stay safe at this period.