Karachi: Around 92,000 children die of pneumonia annually in the country and the authorities must focus on eradicating the deadly disease on a priority basis, said renowned child specialists of the country at a news conference at the Karachi Press Club (KPC) on Tuesday.
“As compared to all other diseases, pneumonia causes the largest number of children deaths in the country every year despite the fact that it is preventable in 90 percent of the cases through vaccination. Even dengue and Naegleria fowleri have not caused more than 100 deaths combined in a year,” one of the specialists said.
The news conference was addressed by Pakistan Pediatric Association Secretary General Dr Ayesha Mehnaz, Dr Jalal Akbar and Dr Saleem Paryani on the eve of World Pneumonia Day, which is observed on November 12 every year around the globe.
Dr Mehnaz termed pneumonia a “public health issue” of Pakistan and said that due to a high mortality rate, pneumonia needed to be declared a health emergency issue and all efforts and resources should be utilised for its eradication.
She said pneumonia was preventable through vaccine and its vaccine was included in the Expanded Programme of Immunisation (EPI) and children were freely vaccinated against the disease in the country.
“Unfortunately, the ratio of routine immunisation is only 50 percent, which means that most of the children are left without vaccination against the lethal disease. If a child is once infected, he would hardly survive of the disease,” she added.
Dr Mehnaz urged the parents to get their children vaccinated, and added that malnourishment among children was another issue due which the immune system would not fight against pneumonia.
She urged the media to create awareness among people regarding pneumonia, saying that as diarrhea had been controlled in Pakistan, pneumonia could also be controlled and eradicated through awareness.
Prof Dr Jalal Akbar of the Baqai University Karachi said pneumonia was an inflammation of the lungs and mostly it was caused by bacteria and viruses.
Dr Saleem Paryani said routine immunisation was very important for the health and lives of the children as it prevented them from many lethal diseases like pneumonia.