India lost over 2.6 lakh children under five years from pneumonia and diarrhoea in 2016, reveals the Pneumonia Diarrhea Progress Report 2018, launched ahead of World Pneumonia Day. India continues to have the highest burden of pneumonia and diarrhoea child deaths in the world.
The yearly analysis by John Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health reviews progress and gaps in coverage of interventions to “protect against, prevent and treat” pneumonia and diarrhoea.
Even now, globally, pneumonia and diarrhoea caused nearly one of every four deaths in children under five years of age in 2016. Around 10.8 million children are on course to die from pneumonia by 2030, with those living in poverty most at risk.