• Fight pneumonia. Save a child.
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  • People from around the world will mark World Pneumonia Day on 12 November.

    More than 1.5 million children die every year from pneumonia, more than from any other disease. But a million children’s lives a year could be saved by simple interventions such as vaccination against the most common causes of pneumonia and treatment with antibiotics.

    For the first time in history, thanks to the GAVI Alliance partners, vaccines against the leading cause of pneumonia are reaching children in developing countries at nearly the same time they reach children in high income countries. This is unprecedented. The introduction of these vaccines is a cornerstone of GAVI’s ambitious plan to ensure that all children have equal access to life-saving vaccines.

    The GAVI Alliance is a founder member of the Global Coalition against Child Pneumonia, formed in 2009 to raise awareness and to encourage governments to support the implementation of a range of proven measures to prevent and treat pneumonia.

  • 58 countries to introduce pneumococcal vaccines by 2015

    Source: WHO-UNICEF coverage estimates for 1980-2010, as of July 2011. Coverage projections for 2011-2012, as of September 2011. World Population Prospects, the 2010 revision. New York, United Nations, 2010 (surviving infants).

    Source: WHO-UNICEF coverage estimates for 1980-2010, as of July 2011. Coverage projections for 2011-2012, as of September 2011. World Population Prospects, the 2010 revision. New York, United Nations, 2010 (surviving infants).

    With GAVI’s support, the roll-out of the pneumococcal vaccines in developing countries began in Nicaragua in December 2010. In 2011 alone, 15 more countries have introduced pneumococcal vaccines into their national routine immunisation programmes. See the timeline.

    In September 2011, a total of 37 countries have been approved for GAVI support to introduce pneumococcal conjugate vaccine.  Of these 37 countries, 18 countries were approved for 2012. This is an unprecedented ramp up.

    Pneumococcal vaccines will soon be administered in more than half of GAVI eligible countries. However millions of children still do not have access to the vaccine. GAVI is working to vaccinate 90 million children in 58 countries against pneumococcal disease by 2015. This plan will be a major contribution to MDG 4 - to decrease childhood deaths by two-thirds by 2015 – that can only be achieved by an intensified effort to reduce pneumonia deaths.

  • The Pneumococcal AMC

    The pneumococcal Advance Market Commitment (AMC) is an innovative way to make effective and affordable pneumococcal vaccines available for children in developing countries.

    Through donor commitments, this innovative funding mechanism incentivises vaccine makers to produce suitable and affordable vaccines for the world's poorest countries. These countries are then able to plan for immunisation programmes knowing that vaccines will be available rapidly.

  • Did you know

    • Pneumonia kills more children under the age of five than any other disease,
      claiming a young life every 20 seconds. Vaccines can prevent many of these deaths.
    • For the first time in history vaccines against the leading cause of pneumonia are reaching children in developing countries at nearly the same time they reach children in high income countries. This is unprecedented.
    • The introduction of these vaccines is a cornerstone of GAVI’s ambitious plan to ensure that all children have equal access to life-saving vaccines.
    • World Pneumonia Day, on 12 November, is an opportunity to highlight the power of vaccines to prevent millions of child deaths and to celebrate the historic achievements of the rapid introduction of these new vaccines to combat pneumonia. No child should die of a disease we can prevent.
    • Together we can ensure that everyone works together to make pneumonia a priority. Join the Global Coalition against Child Pneumonia.

  • WPD resources

    Informational resources


    Pneumococcal disease factsheet thumbPneumococcal factsheet - GAVI support for pneumococcal vaccines


    Infographic thumbInfographic - The challenges and promise of the fight against childhood pneumonia.

     

    Five things you can do thumbFive Things You Can Do - Easy steps to get involved.

     

    Online Tools

    Other Resources

    Visit the World Pneumonia Day website for more resources from their Activist Toolkit, including: Event planning and online tools.

     

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