Governments the world over, especially in developing countries have being called upon to prioritize efforts to reduce preventable child deaths from pneumonia, diarrhea and other diseases.

They are also being asked to invest more in the development of new diagnostics and treatments that can help in the fight against pneumonia, which is the number one killer of children under five.

The call was made on the occasion of the fifth celebration of world pneumonia day which falls on November 12th each year. The day is observed primarily to provide a forum for the world to stand together and demand action in the fight against pneumonia.

And in Ghana, Dr Paul Lartey, a medical officer of the Tema Branch of the New Crystal Hospital believes the country will be doing its citizens, especially children a great deal of good if it steps up efforts in preventing child deaths from pneumonia.

He explains there is the need for a collaborative effort between government and other stakeholders to grow the economy so that issues such as eradication of poverty, women empowerment, good road network, accessibility to healthcare, etc. are addressed adequately to ensure that whatever efforts are being made in dealing with this health issue will be effective. He insists a holistic approach rather than an isolated one is the most effective way to achieve results.

According to Dr Lartey, a survey conducted in 2008 showed that there are still some deaths associated with pneumonia in Ghana even though there has being a decline from 114 to 80 deaths per 1000 cases. He said this indicates that a lot more needs to be done in terms of awareness creation and education as the disease is preventable and treatable.

He advocates the focus of educational campaigns should be in the hinterlands and rural areas where the people are unaware of the tragic effects of pneumonia. He hastens to add that even though Ghana’s community based health care system is one of the best in Africa; it is still not far-reaching enough as there are people out there who know next to nothing about the dangers of pneumonia.

Touching on this year’s theme, “innovations” and the call on governments to invest more in new diagnostics and treatments, Dr Lartey is of the view that although appropriate, it applies more to the developed world than it does to developing economies like ours.

His explanation is that the developed world has already invested heavily in pneumonia treatment and development of vaccines, the recent one being immovak. “However, we have not being able to add on to what has already being established to work” he added.

Therefore, our focus should rather be to invest in what has being tried and tested and handed over to us by increasing our vaccination coverage, publicity, creating more awareness, educating parents on the proper way to take care of their children, empowering women, improving our road network system, training more health professionals and also making the treatment accessible and affordable to everyone. He added that the developed world has tackled these basic issues already so their focus now is to develop new ways of dealing with pneumonia.

It is believed that more than 99% of deaths occurring from pneumonia occur in developing countries where access to healthcare is out of reach for many children. Also, the disease claims more young lives than AIDS, malaria, and measles combined.But according to UN Secretary General, Ban Ki-Moon, “Pneumonia can be prevented and cured…we must scale up proven solutions and ensure they reach every child in need”

This year’s observation is also focusing on the clear link between pneumonia and diarrhea. Touching on it, Dr Lartey said it is the right way to go as the public health aspects of the two diseases are the same. He adds that collaborative interventions to fight these two largely preventable diseases will not only ensure that Millennium Development Goal 4 is achieved, but will also help inprotecting, preventing and treating children against these two leading killers..

It is also a widely acknowledged fact that without coordinated efforts, each year, more than two million children will die from pneumonia and diarrhoea.