Pneumonia and diarrhoea in India

Overview: The Pneumonia and Diarrhoea Progress Report 2018 has been released.

• The report is released by the International Vaccine Access Center (IVAC) at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.
• The report, released ahead of the 10th annual World Pneumonia Day, on November 12, reviews progress and gaps in coverage of interventions to “protect against, prevent and treat” pneumonia and diarrhoea.

Highlights of the report:

• Even as vaccine coverage has significantly improved in India, other interventions against pneumonia and diarrhoea, the two major causes of child deaths in the country, declined in last one year.
• ORS coverage dropped by 13 percentage points, exclusive breastfeeding by 10 percentage points, whereas access to pneumonia care decreased by four percentage points in one year.
• With a total of 2,60,990 deaths of children under 5 years of age due to pneumonia and diarrhoea, India continues to top the list of 15 countries with the most casualties. While 1,58,176 children under 5 died of pneumonia, diarrhoea accounted for 1,02,813 deaths in 2016.
• Female children in India lose out on vaccination despite improvements in full immunisation coverage. Only 78 females were fully immunised for every 100 males fully immunised in poor areas of Delhi. Addressing these disparities can help reduce pneumonia and diarrhoea burden.
• Globally, pneumonia and diarrhoea cause 1.36 million deaths in children in the same category in 2016. Over two thirds of the global burden of pneumonia and diarrhoea mortality occurs in just 15 countries. Despite significant reductions of disease in recent years with improvements in access to and use of health interventions, nearly half a million pneumonia and diarrhoea deaths still occurred in just India and Nigeria.
• The report lists exclusive breastfeeding, vaccination, access to care and use of antibiotics, oral rehydration solution, and zinc supplementation as key interventions to help prevent and treat pneumonia and diarrhoea.

Sources: the hindu.