Pneumonia kills 200,000 kids annually in India

 01-Jan-16, The Tribune

India may be the top consumer of antibiotics in the world but it is losing a large number of lives annually due to lack of antibiotic access to treat preventable diseases such as pneumonia.

A new study in the Lancet’s special series on Antimicrobial Resistance shows that only 12.5 per cent of India’s under-five children with suspected pneumonia are actually getting treatment for the same, resulting in 2,10,000 deaths every year.

Image: The Tribune

The Lancet article titled, “Access to effective antimicrobials: A worldwide challenge” goes on to conclude on the basis of research that India can avert 80.7 per cent of its annual under 5 pneumonia attributable deaths by universalizing access to antibiotics.

“India with low reported percentage of children with suspected pneumonia receiving antibiotic treatment (just 12.5 pc) can reduce the number of present community acquired bacterial pneumonia deaths by 80.7 per cent to 40,691 annually instead of the current 0.210 million. This means it can avert 1,69,760 deaths every year by ensuring children suffering pneumonia get medicines,” says Prof Ramanan Laxminarayan, lead author of the paper.

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