Pneumonia kills about 143,000 children under the age of five each year in Nigeria, the government said on Thursday, with the coronavirus pandemic preventing access to life-saving treatment.
Medical oxygen together with antibiotics can help reduce the number of deaths – but the pandemic has seen increased demand, according to the United Nations International Fund for Children (UNICEF), which makes the shortage even more pronounced.
Olorunnimbe Mamora, the state health minister in Africa’s most populous country, said at World Pneumonia Day on November 12 that in combination with other childhood diseases, the condition kills an estimated 132 out of 1,000 newborns each year.
In response, the Pediatric Association of Nigeria has called on the government and its international partners to improve their records and undo their reputation as the highest contributor to mortality in five years in the world.
But this year has been particularly challenging due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Coronavirus has “resulted in disruptions to preventive and therapeutic childcare services including immunization, dietary supplements and early treatments for common diseases,” the association said in a statement Wednesday.
Pneumonia is an acute respiratory infection that affects the lungs and can be caused by viruses, bacteria and fungi found in polluted air, and worsens when people have a weak immune system and live in unpleasant environments.
It kills more children than any other disease – more than AIDS, malaria and diarrhea combined, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). But lack of attention to pneumonia means that too few children have access to available interventions.
“The pandemic has revealed a devastating lack of oxygen in the poorest countries,” said Kevin Watkins, President of the United Kingdom in a recently published report, calling for free access, especially in sub-Saharan Africa where less than one in five receive oxygen treatment. requires.
