Pneumonia, a Disease a Country Glosses Over

DNA (Daily News & Analysis)
Jan 23, 2009
Sunitha Rao R., Bangalore, India

UNICEF and WHO say India accounts for nearly 40% of pneumonia cases.

Most people are still in the dark about the illness.

Varalakshmi S, a mother of three, had not heard about pneumonia until her six-month-old child Darshan was diagnosed with the illness. When he started coughing and gasping for breath, she rushed him to the hospital.

After one-and-a-half months, the doctors at Kempegowda Institute of Medical Sciences told her that the baby was suffering from pneumonia.

She is one among the many of those who were not aware of pneumonia, the most under-recognised problem in India. According to UNICEF and WHO, India accounts for nearly 40% of global cases of pneumonia.

Speaking at a press conference organized by Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, a US-based health portal, Dr Alagiriswamy Parthasarathy, former IAP (Indian Academy of Paediatrics) president, said pneumonia kills over 400,000 children under the age of five in India every year.
“About 30-40% of our outpatient wards will have children suffering from pneumonia. Out of them, only 50% children get appropriate treatment,” says Dr Prahlad Kumar A, associate professor, Indira Gandhi Institute of Child Health.

Pneumonia is a preventable illness. “Established preventive techniques such as improving nutrition, exclusive breast feeding, reducing air pollution and vaccinating against measles and pertussis (whooping cough) can successfully lower the risk of pneumonia among children,” says Dr Maturam Santhosham, a paediatrician and professor at Johns Hopkins.

In April 2008, the central government made a recommendation to all state governments to include Hib vaccination as part of the state immunization programme. Dr Jagadish Chinnappa, a paediatrician at Manipal Hospital, urged the government to take initiatives to give Hib vaccination to prevent pneumonia.

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