Call to accelerate prevention of pneumonia, meningitis
16 lakh die in developing countries a year
Staff Correspondent
Medical experts called on the policymakers to accelerate the prevention of pneumonia and meningitis that kill 16 lakh people in the developing countries a year.The call came from a two-day brain-storming discussion that ended in the city on Tuesday. Researchers from home and abroad took part in the discussion and shared their data on the global burden of the diseases. Studies on the diseases in Bangladesh show that most patients die within 12 hours of admission to hospitals and about 20 percent children infected with the bacterial diseases survive with disability, including retarded growth and loosing hearing, vision and neck control. The experts said the diseases are highly prevalent in Bangladesh as in many developing countries. They also recommended introducing new vaccines, widely used in many countries, to prevent the deadly pneumococcal infections. "These vaccines are both safe and highly effective. The routine use of these vaccines could substantially improve child survival and contribute to achieving the United Nation's Millennium Development Goals," Dr Orin Levine, executive director of Global Alliance for Vaccine Immunisation (Gavi), PneumoADIP, said at a press briefing. Emphasising the importance of preventing child deaths, Dr Cyndy Whitney of Centre for Disease Control and Prevention, USA, said, "Countries having huge burden of the diseases must recognise the value of the vaccines that could save so many lives." "Our studies have proven that immunisation with the new vaccines could significantly reduce the burden of the diseases. It is time to invest in the vaccination programme," said Dr Samir Saha, professor of microbiology at Bangladesh Institute of Child Health and a senior consultant in microbiology at Dhaka Shishu Hospital. Serious pneumococcal infections are a major global health problem and a major problem in Bangladesh. Preliminary data from Dhaka Shishu Hospital shows that 35 percent of all meningitis cases are due to the pneuomcoccus bacteria and that 55 percent of those patients die or become disabled. The World Health Organisation and Gavi's PneumoADIP jointly organised the two-day meeting. Dr Maranga Wamae from Kenya also spoke at the press briefing presided over by Dr Thomas Cherian of WHO.
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