UP home to 3% of all pneumonia deaths in the World

LUCKNOW: At least 26,200 children under the age of five die of pneumonia in Uttar Pradesh each year. This makes Uttar Pradesh, the biggest contributor to all pneumonia deaths in India - 1.78 lakh.
As per Unicef data, 8,80,000 children died of pneumonia in 2016. In this perspective, Uttar Pradesh is home to 2.9% of all pneumonia deaths in the world. UP is followed by Bihar (23,200 deaths/year), Madhya Pradesh (13,400 deaths/year) and Rajasthan (11,900 deaths/year).
Health experts point out that the most common cause of pneumonia is a bacteria called pneumococcus. It accounts for about 16% of all pneumonia cases and 30% of all pneumonia deaths. Studies have shown that the number can be brought down significantly by the use of PCV.
"Besides posing a risk to life, pneumonia can affect a child's physical and cognitive development and result in poor performance in school. Preventing pneumonia in children is an essential component of the strategy to reduce child mortality. Immunization against Hib, pneumococcus, measles and whooping cough is the most effective way to prevent pneumonia," said Prof Shally Awasthi, faculty, pediatrics department, King George's Medical University.
It is for this that the union ministry of health included pneumonia vaccine—pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV)—under the universal immunisation programme (UIP) in 2017. The programme, which began with six districts in UP, added another six districts where PCV would be lauched from May 19.
The districts to be covered in second phase Lucknow, Barabanki, Hardoi, Faizabad, Gonda and Basti. Those included in the first phase were Kheri, Sitapur, Siddharthnagar, Bahraich, Balrampur and Shravasti. Officials said that the districts had been chosen because their score against important health indicators like infant mortality, child mortality and maternal health is low.
State immunisation officer, Dr AP Chaturvedi said that said all children must get this one-time vaccine shot whenever their district is included. "The vaccine costs around Rs 4,000 in the private sector whereas it is free under the Universal immunisation programme," he said adding, “over 10 lakh children in the 12 districts of UP would be given the PCV shots.”
Adequate nutrition is key to improving a child's natural defenses, starting with exclusive breastfeeding for the first six months of life. Addressing environmental factors, such as indoor air pollution (by providing affordable, clean indoor stoves) and encouraging good hygiene in crowded homes also reduces the number of children who fall ill with pneumonia.