The investigators hypothesized that Oral amoxicillin (25mg/kg/dose bid) given to children aged 2-59 months with pneumonia, would lead to better clinical outcome on day three in 89.9% of the children compared to 77.0% of children receiving oral cotrimoxazole (8 mg/kg/dose trimethoprim, 40 mg/kg/dose sulphamethoxazole). A double blind randomized controlled trial was conducted in the Assessment Center of Mulago Hospital. Children with non-severe pneumonia were randomized to receive either oral amoxicillin (25 mg/kg/dose) or cotrimoxazole (trimethoprim 8 mg/kg and sulphamethoxazole 40 mg/kg) and followed up on day 3 and 5 of treatment. The primary outcome measures were normalization of respiratory rate by day 3 of treatment. Secondary outcome measures were antimicrobial susceptibility to cotrimoxazole and amoxicillin.