Pneumonia is the second major killer of Nigerian children after malaria. Paediatricians, mothers and caregivers who spoke with BUKOLA ADEBAYO at a screening exercise in Lagos, called on government to provide pneumococcal vaccination to fight the disease
A paediatrician examining one of the children during the screening exercise in Lagos ...on Monday
Medical experts are worried about the rate at which Nigerians, particularly children, are losing their lives to pneumonia. According to them, about 146, 370 children are killed yearly by the disease. This number, they said, is unacceptable for a disease that can be prevented with simple precautions like immunisation and good hygiene.
They identified ignorance on the cause of the disease, low Bosom feeding and non-inclusion of the pneumococcal vaccine in the national routine immunisation programme of the country as some of the factors responsible for the high death rate occasioned by pneumonia.
They warned that if government and parents failed to key into the fight, against pneumonia, infant mortality might continue to increase especially at the grass roots.
The experts spoke with our correspondent at a free screening programme organised by the Paediatric Association of Nigeria for artisans, mothers and pregnant women at the Isolo Market, Mushin in Lagos on Monday as part of activities to mark the World Pneumonia Day.
She noted that to reduce the rate of pneumococcal infections, which according to her, kills 17 children every hour in the country, Nigerians must adopt improved hygienic lifestyles and increase vaccine intake for their children.
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