The World Health Organization (WHO), regarding the International Day against the disease, specified that it affects children and their families anywhere on the planet, but death rates are higher in South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa.

Of children under five years of age, 740,180 lost their lives in 2019 due to pneumonia, which meant 14 percent of deaths from all registered diseases, the health entity remarked.

It is possible to protect children from such a condition, prevent it with simple interventions and treat it with medicines and low-cost care and technology, it said.

Bacterial pneumonia can be treated with antibiotics, but only a third of children suffering from it receive the medications they need, WHO said in a statement.

The disease, a form of acute respiratory infection affecting the lungs, can be caused by viruses, bacteria or fungi, according to specialized bibliography.

According to WHO, Covid-19 can cause severe pneumonia and patients need oxygen, which is why we are working with countries and partners around the world in order to guarantee its supply.

Established in celebration of the ‘Stop Pneumonia’ initiative in 2009, the International Day against Pneumonia seeks each year to raise awareness and call for global action against the disease.

This time it is marked by the COP26, United Nations Conference on Climate Change, which is why experts insist on the importance of combining health, air quality and climate to face what is called the biggest infectious killer on the planet.

Air pollution appears as the main risk factor for deaths from pneumonia in all age groups. Nearly a third of all pneumonia deaths were linked to polluted air, official data highlighted.

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