BENGALURU: Though they are preventable diseases and do not require expensive treatment, pneumonia and diarrhoea continue to remain the biggest killers of children below the age of five in the state and country.
Last year the state recorded a total of around 14,000 deaths due to pneumonia, diarrhoea and measles. “An integrated approach to tackle these two killers is essential, as many interventions for pneumonia and diarrhoea are identical and could save the lives of countless children, if done in a coordinated manner,” said Dr Ravishankara M, central executive board member, Indian Academy of Pediatrics Bangalore Pediatric Society.
Regarding Karnataka Dr Ravishankara said, “The picture is not a very comfortable one as the immunisation cover is just 80 per cent, whereas ideally it should be 95 per cent.” Health experts believe that to bridge the immunisation gap, it is crucial to improve vaccine delivery mechanism to reach every child.
Using interventions that work is the key, breastfeeding for six months and later supplementing it with appropriate diet reduces the onset and severity of diarrhoea and pneumonia. In addition, vaccines against measles and pertussis substantially reduces risk of pneumonia and death in children, said Dr Premlatha, Director, Indira Gandhi Institute of Child Health (IGICH). She said IGCIH daily gets 7-8 pneumonia cases and 1-2 diarrhoea cases and many require ICU management.
“A clean home environment is critical for reducing transmission of pathogens that cause pneumonia or diarrhoea. Along with that safe drinking water, reducing air pollution cuts the risk of childhood pneumonia,” Dr Ravishankara added.
Experts also stressed on proper training for ASHA workers. “Prevention is the only key hence implementation of water, sanitation and hygiene programmes, including access and use of safe drinking-water is essential,” said Dr Premlatha.
