One in every 4 children dies of pneumonia in Pakistan

[Ronan Kelly]

Monday, November 21, 2011


One in every 4 children dies of pneumonia in Pakistan

KARACHI: Medical experts have said that pneumonia kills nearly two million children every year in the world under the age of five, while in Pakistan, one in every four children deaths are attributable to the disease.

More than 150 million cases of pneumonia report every year among children under five in developing countries, account for more than 95 percent of all new cases worldwide. Some diseases, like measles and pertussis (whooping cough), can lead to pneumonia as a complication. Children with HIV are 40 times more likely to contract pneumococcal disease than HIV-negative children, and may be more likely to contract antibiotic-resistant strains of the disease.

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http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2011\11\21\story_21-11-2011_pg7_4

 

[Emily]

Re: One in every 4 children dies of pneumonia in Pakistan

There is a new study here linking cooking with unvented wood stoves and severe outcomes from childhood pneumonia:

http://www.flutrackers.com/forum/showthread.php?t=176635

ScienceDaily (Nov. 10, 2011)

"This study is critically important because it provides compelling evidence that reducing household woodsmoke exposure is a public health intervention that is likely on a par with vaccinations and nutrition supplements for reducing severe pneumonia..."

Just venting the stoves to the outside resulted in a big reduction in severe pneumonia cases in children, though overall numbers of cases in general were not reduced by as much. (The venting was not 100% efficient and also there would still be outside environmental exposure.)

That study was done Guatemala, but I see another study showing another negative health impact of wood smoke on children was done in Pakistan. It says that more than half of the population there cooks with wood.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2290986/

Last year the United Nations Foundation launched the Global Alliance for Clean Cookstoves, (US Secretary of State, Hilary Clinton, has been championing this effort):

http://newscenter.berkeley.edu/2011/11/10/cookstove-smoke-pneumonia-iq/