Even some physicians I know are amazed when they hear that the leading killer of children under the age of five in the developing world is pneumonia. Not malaria. Not AIDS. A highly preventable and treatable illness is claiming 1.5 million young lives every year.
Vaccines exist that can prevent the leading causes of pneumonia and cost-effective antibiotics can treat most cases. If developing countries had these vaccines and medicines, more than a million children could be saved each year.
That's why Save the Children and more than 100 health and humanitarian organizations have joined forces to promote World Pneumonia Day this Nov. 12. We know if Americans understand that children are dying needlessly, they will take action to help.
This is a problem with a proven solution. And few causes can offer a better return on investment. A course of antibiotics can treat most cases for less than $1. Other low cost prevention measures include exclusive breastfeeding for six months, ensuring good nutrition, reducing air pollution, washing hands and preventing mother-to-child transmission of HIV. No other interventions currently available have the potential to save children's lives at this scale.
So why are we still losing this battle? Many children who contract pneumonia simply do not get the care they need. Though it is common, it is rarely diagnosed, as few caregivers can recognize the symptoms and begin treatment in time.
The current critical shortage of 4.3 million health care workers is another reason more children do not receive prompt diagnosis and care. Community health care workers can fill this gap, learning in just a few months of training how to use a simple timer to measure breaths and providing lifesaving care to children in the hardest-to-reach places, where most deaths occur.
We need more pneumonia fighters on the front lines. Join the World Pneumonia Day movement and see how breathtakingly easy it can be to save a child's life.
Former Republican Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, a physician, is chairman of Save the Children's Newborn and Child Survival campaign.
Glenn D. Braunstein, M.D.: Roll Up Your Sleeves for Flu Season
Official Site - Save the Children
Pneumonia Symptoms, Causes, Signs and Treatment (Viral, Bacterial ...
CHILD- http://mychildrenschoice.com
A course of antibiotics can treat most cases for less than $1.
Not in the US. Where are these inexpensive medicines you denied us through your legislative accomplishments like medicare part d.
I guess he's afraid too many people still remember his missteps in the Terry Schiavo case and the general rancid atmosphere surrounding his health care fortune...
I'm not forgetting. Just sit down and shut up, Frist. Go count your money or something. I wouldn't trust you to prescribe aspirin to a child.
As the top species on the planet acting outside of evolution, it seems the only thing that has a chance at checks and balances in the Homo Sapien population are the viruses, well that and natural disasters
which by the way - are still not doing a thorough enough job.
Taking Vitamin D3 supplements have been a big help for me. I haven't had so much as a cold since I began. And I'm a teacher, exposed to all sorts of germs.
If you are anti-vaccine too, please do a search on D3, read up, and make your own decisions. Some organizations believe that D3 is even better for flu/pneumonia prevention.
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=vitamin+d3+flu+pneumonia
And no need to worry about antibiotic resistance. I don't know how much bacterial resistance is geographic in nature. But to the extent that you prevent bacteria from reproducing in huge numbers, the less likely you are to have resistance. More immune people, less antibiotic resistance.
With recent study of pneumovax immunized populations just being published, perhaps we should delay action. The short term impact of the immunizations planned, presumably for Influenzae and Pneumococci have saved innumerable respiratory infections in the US. Some training programs even have a hard time getting experience for trainees with the scarcity of otitis media cases.
The improvement for 10 years or so has selected other resistant strains of these bugs which in one study included antibiotic resistance. What is the outlook beyond the effectiveness of the present shots?
Changing the breeding grounds of influenza might decrease the burden of respiratory disease long term. In migratory wild fowl zones, humans should not live in dwellings with pigs and domestic fowl. Pigs should not be raised close to domestic fowl. Farmers should quit feeding their chickens the drugs used to treat influenza when new chemicals are developed. (The old drugs are mostly worthless from this unfortunate practice.) Chicken insurance for Chinese farmers would be a better plan in terms of cost and health.
We need consideration of these issues free from corporate pressure (profits) including those of well meaning NGO's. Have I offended enough groups?
The problem with strain 19A has been addressed by adding 6 more strains to the conjugated vaccines so they are now PCV-13.
There is a problem with feeding animals antibiotics routinely. I didn't realize that there was a similar concern with routinely feeding chickens anti-virals. A better answer is to vaccinate chickens.
I am aware this article was written by a physician but there are alternative medical systems that are better for all of us in the long run. Homeopathy. I also know there a folks who deny homeopathy works. But train one person in a village or small town to use remedies, give them a kit and raise the level of health for everyone and this includes the animals hey depend on. Allopathic medicine is not the be all end all for the world, it is one option. I should know I am an RN and a homeopath.
What you call Allopathic medicine is science-based, and science does work, evidently.
I wonder if Sue could cite some scientific studies demonstrating homeopathy can cure childhood pneumonia.
I won't hold my breath.
If you could do that I would cheer you on . Evidence?
"Voted YES on cap foreign aid at only $12.7 billion."
From www.ontheissues.org