The U.S. Commemorate World Pneumonia Day

November 10, 2010

World Pneumonia Day taking place on November 12 is intended to bring a global focus on the disease and efforts to prevent the millions of deaths it causes each year.  The U.S. commemorate World Pneumonia Day with the hope of a healthier future for all children.

Pneumonia is the single largest cause of death in children worldwide. Every year, it kills an estimated 1.8 million children under the age of five, accounting for 20% of all deaths of children under five worldwide. Overall, pneumonia kills 4 million people every year.

Pneumonia is a lung infection caused by bacteria, viruses, or fungi. Health and environmental factors including poor nutrition, AIDS, malaria, influenza, exposure to indoor air pollution, and tobacco smoke put children at higher risk.  According to WHO, pneumonia is the leading cause of death in children worldwide.

The Global Alliance for Clean Cookstoves

Nearly half the people in the world rely on polluting, inefficient stoves to cook their food each day. The airborne particulates and pollutants emitted from these cookstoves contribute significantly costly and deadly chronic illnesses such as lung cancer and Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Diseases (COPD). Further, these pollutants can cause low grade infections and agitate bronchial passages and lung surfaces, creating ideal conditions for pneumonia infections.

The Alliance has a goal of  100 by 20, which calls for 100 million homes to adopt clean and efficient stoves and fuels by 2020, toward a long-term goal vision of universal adoption of clean and efficient cooking solutions.  The USG has committed more than $50 million over the next five years in support of the Alliance's goals.