Innovative Solutions Unveiled on World Pneumonia Day

Pneumonia kills more children than malaria, AIDS and measles combined

Launch of ‘Every Breath Counts’ campaign driven by UNICEF and Speak Up in an effort to raise global awareness

NEW YORK, United States, 12 November 2015, -/African Media Agency (AMA)/- In support of World Pneumonia Day, the first Pneumonia Innovations Summit will be held in New York on November 12, 2015. The event highlights innovations that can prevent, diagnose, and treat the millions of children who contract pneumonia every year.

More than thirty innovators will demonstrate their new technologies and initiatives that improve diagnostics and community treatment. A phone that can recognize pneumonia based on the sound of a cough and a fitted timer that measures a child’s respiratory rate are just a few examples of the new technology. Leading experts and researchers will also present on how to reduce risk factors and vulnerability through improved cook stoves and breast milk banks.

“It’s unacceptable that over 900,000 children die each year from pneumonia when we have the tools to prevent these deaths. We can do better. The Pneumonia Innovations Summit is an opportunity to bring the best minds and best ideas to fixing this problem” says Kate Schroder, Senior Director, Essential Medicines Initiative, Clinton Health Access Initiative.

“In order to address inadequate global funding allocated to pneumonia relative to its burden on children, UNICEF and Speak Up Africa today launched a global campaign, “Every Breath Counts” which calls worldwide attention to the opportunity implied by global investment in pneumonia” says Yacine Djibo, President of Speak Up Africa. Pneumonia kills more children than any other infectious disease – more than malaria, AIDS, and measles combined – but it receives a fraction of the global public health investment. The Institute for Health Metric and Evaluation published findings which showed that child pneumonia deaths fell at a much slower rate than child deaths from measles, AIDS and malaria over the past several years.

UNICEF has teamed up with Speak Up Africa to design and implement a scalable, global public health campaign to raise awareness and spur investment in the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of pneumonia.

This effort recognizes that vaccines alone will not be enough to drive child pneumonia deaths to the levels required to meet agreed global health targets.

The Summit is hosted by the Pneumonia Innovations Team, a global network of more than 200 organizations and individuals committed to accelerating the development and adoption of new technologies with the greatest potential to reduce child deaths from pneumonia, is proud to be sponsoring this event in support of the UN Secretary-General’s Every Woman, Every Child movement.

Distributed by African Media Agency on behalf of Speak Up Africa.

Contact
Roxanne O’Connell, Program Manager
roxanne.oconnell@speakupafrica.org
O: 1.646.217.0400

Speak Up Africa is an advocacy and communications organization that catalyzes African leadership on critical health issues. Speak Up Africa is convinced that a prosperous and stable Africa begins with active and engaged citizens; and with leaders that accelerate transformational change.

Millennium Development Goal Alliance has a mission to realize full achievement of the health-related Millennium Development Goals by providing guidance, support and inspiration to key stakeholders invested in human health around the world.

UNICEF promotes the rights and wellbeing of every child, in everything we do. Together with our partners, we work in 190 countries and territories to translate that commitment into practical action, focusing special effort on reaching the most vulnerable and excluded children, to the benefit of all children, everywhere. For more information about UNICEF and its work visit: www.unicef.org. Follow UNICEF on Twitter and Facebook.

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