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Most pneumonia deaths could be prevented by immunization, by parental awareness of the danger signs, and by antibiotics. Half the diarrhoeal deaths could be prevented by oral rehydration therapy (ORT) and continued feeding of the sick child.
The 1990 World Summit for Children established the goal of a one-third reduction in child deaths from acute respiratory infections (mostly pneumonia) and a halving of deaths from diarrhoeal disease.
The Progress of Nations 1994 reported that some 40% of diarrhoeal disease cases in children were being treated with ORT, saving an estimated 1 million lives a year.
The struggle against acute respiratory infections (ARI) is proving more difficult. WHO has developed guidelines to enable community health workers to diagnose pneumonia and to prescribe low-cost antibiotics. The strategies and the technologies are therefore available for reaching the year 2000 goal and preventing at least 1.5 million child deaths a year (pneumonia currently kills over 3 million children annually). The challenge now is to put known solutions into action on the same scale as the problem.
WHO wants to see ARI control programmes in all countries with infant death rates higher than 40 per 1000 births in 1989. The list below divides all such countries according to the progress being made.
Taking control
Progress towards ARI control programmes in countries with infant death rates higher than 40 per 1000 births in 1989
ARI control programme operational nationwide -------------------------------------------- Bhutan Honduras Namibia Bolivia Iran Nicaragua Botswana Iraq Oman Colombia Jordan Paraguay Egypt Mexico Philippines Gambia Mongolia Swaziland Guatemala Myanmar Zimbabwe Control programme operational in part of the country ---------------------------------------------------- Afghanistan Ghana Nigeria Bangladesh India Pakistan Brazil Indonesia Papua N. Guinea Cambodia Kenya Peru Cameroon Lao Rep. Sierra Leone Cape Verde Lesotho Tunisia Chad Madagascar Turkey Côte d'Ivoire Malawi Uganda Djibouti Maldives Viet Nam Dominican Rep. Morocco Zambia Ecuador Mozambique Tanzania El Salvador Nepal Ethiopia Niger Plans drawn up programme not yet active ----------------------------------------- Benin Guinea Senegal Burundi Lebanon Syria C. African Rep. Libya Togo Congo Mali Yemen Gabon Rwanda No national plan or programme ----------------------------- Algeria Guyana St. Vincent/Grenadines Angola Haiti Sao Tome/Principe Burkina Faso Liberia Saudi Arabia Comoros Mauritania Somalia Eq. Guinea South Africa Guinea-Bissau Zaire
Source: WHO, unpublished data, December 1994.