Every Breath Counts

The Every Breath Counts Coalition is the world’s first public-private partnership to support national governments to end preventable child pneumonia deaths by 2030.

https://stoppneumonia.org/every-breath-counts/

Our overarching goal is to reduce the number of children dying from pneumonia to less than 3 deaths per 1,000 live births by 2030 – by closing the critical gaps in pneumonia prevention, diagnosis and treatment.

The biggest killer

Pneumonia is the single biggest killer of children: claiming almost 800,000 lives each year. That is almost two fatalities every minute of every day.

Pneumonia deaths are falling but more slowly than other major causes of child mortality. And too slowly to achieve the Sustainable Development Goal of ending preventable child deaths by 2030. Almost all the fatalities are readily preventable through vaccination and treatable with low-cost antibiotics and oxygen. Yet the death toll continues.

A disease of poverty

It is the poorest children who are most at risk. These children are more likely to be malnourished and experience bad sanitation and indoor air pollution, and are the least likely to be vaccinated, correctly diagnosed and treated. Innovations that could save hundreds of thousands of lives each year – from new vaccines to pulse oximetry and oxygen provision – are not reaching those in greatest need.

By 2030, pneumonia will kill 11 million more children unless the world takes decisive action now.