Child Lung Health

A nurse counts a child's respiratory rate at Kasungu District Hospital, Malawi - Child Lung Health - The Union - © Gary Hampton

Making a difference in child survival

The Child Lung Health Division was created in 1996. Since its inception, it has focused its activities on health services in low-income countries (primarily sub-Saharan Africa) for the care of children with acute respiratory infections (ARI), primarily severe/very severe pneumonia; tuberculosis; HIV- related lung disease; and asthma in children under five in low-income countries.
Of the almost 10 million children under five who die each year from preventable causes, pneumonia accounts for over 19% of the fatalities. It claims two million children each year, of whom more than 90% are from low-income countries. It is the yougest children – less than one year of age – living in the poorest communities who suffer most and die from this condition.

Millennium Development Goals (MDGs): Reduce by two-thirds the mortality rate among children under five by 2015.

"Tracking progress in maternal, newborn and child survival: Countdown to 2015 - The 2008 Report" (PDF 8,9Mo)
Overview of report
A collaboration among individuals and institutions established in 2005, the Countdown aims to stimulate country action by tracking coverage for interventions needed to attain Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) 4 and 5 – and, in addition, parts of MDGs 1, 6 and 7.

Through this unified effort, national and international policy makers, programme implementers, development and media partners and researchers are working together to:

• Summarize, synthesize and disseminate the best and most recent information on country-level progress towards high, sustained and equitable coverage with health interventions to save women and children
• Take stock of progress in maternal, newborn and child survival
• Call on governments, development partners and the broader community to be accountable if rates of progress are not satisfactory
• Identify knowledge gaps that are hindering progress
• Propose new actions to achieve the health-related MDGs, in particular MDGs 4 and 5.

The Union’s Child Lung Health Programme is committed to childhood survival and to improving these children’s chances in life.
To find out more, go to: http://www.unmillenniumproject.org