World Pneumonia Day 2025: Your guide to beat the deadly disease

Guardian Nigeria

Watch World Pneumonia Day 2025: Your guide to beat the deadly disease - Guardian Nigeria on Dailymotion

Transcript

00:00November 12 marks World Pneumonia Day, an annual global initiative established in 2009 to raise awareness about pneumonia,

00:08the world's leading infectious killer of children under 5, and a major cause of death among adults, claiming over 2.2 million lives annually.

00:19For 2025, the official theme is Every Breath Count, Stop Pneumonia in Its Track.

00:26This theme, announced by organizations like Every Breath Count Coalition and supported by WHO and UNICEF,

00:34emphasizes urgent prevention strategies such as vaccination, improved nutrition, clean air access, and equitable treatment.

00:43To halt the disease spread, especially in low-resource settings, where risk like malnutrition and pollution are high.

00:50Dr. Bola Shogwesson, a consultant pediatrician, gives us insight on how to combat this deadly disease.

00:58My name is Dr. Bola Shogwesson. I'm one of the consultant pediatricians here in Ifakodaya.

01:04The simple layman language is a disease that probably affects the lungs.

01:10I would not allow one to breathe very well because it's a difficulty in breathing.

01:14Now, that can be because of germs, bacteria, or viruses, so they would go into the lining of the lungs

01:21and affect the way the oxygen is transported across the lung cells.

01:28So, physically, it causes difficulty in breathing.

01:31So, you have very fast breathing and labelled breathing.

01:35And also, because of the infection, depends on what is causing it,

01:38it causes a fever. It causes an increase in temperature.

01:43Well, Nigeria can actually do a lot of things.

01:50We can actually end child pneumonia, especially child pneumonia by 2030.

01:53A very ambitious goal, but achievable, easily achievable.

01:59You know, so I think what we need to do is scale up our interventions that we have so far,

02:05involve families, you know, to let them know just what to look out for with pneumonia.

02:09Like I said, it's a problem with the lungs. It affects breathing.

02:14So, when these mothers or carers know what to look for in the babies or the children they are looking after,

02:20it's easier for them to seek help.

02:22And when they're seeking help as well, we need to talk about their health-seeking behaviours

02:26because some of them would usually go to the odd neighbour who doesn't know more than they do,

02:32or to healthcare workers who have not that experience.

02:36But coming to the right place, the health centres that are open for them and hospitals like this

02:40make things easier and faster.

02:43So, it's achievable.

02:44Apart from stepping up the hospital, stepping up information,

02:48making sure drugs are available where they need it, you know,

02:51ensuring that the information is there.

02:54Because pneumonia is airborne.

02:56And what I mean by airborne is that the agents are in the air, so it can be breathed in.

03:02So, if there's contact, I mean, improving, what do you call it, ventilation, indoor ventilation helps a great deal, you know.

03:10As a nation, we need to, first of all, upgrade our healthcare facilities

03:16to make it achievable, accessible, and affordable for every single person who comes in,

03:23from the primary health centres, basically.

03:26So that the initial, like the mild pneumonia that can be treated on an outpatient basis

03:32can be sorted straight away.

03:33That's one.

03:34The second thing is, for those who are treating them, adequate education are healthcare extension workers

03:41giving the adequate education they need.

03:44Apart from these healthcare extension workers, the mothers know to, will know what to,

03:49I mean, with public health education, they know what to look out for with these children.

03:53Like, if you have a baby who has a cough, who has very fast breathing,

03:58and who on looking at the chest has enjoying or has a lot of struggle with breathing,

04:03they know that, look, it's time for me to seek help.

04:06So, when they go to the healthcare workers, or they go to the health centres,

04:09or come to the hospitals, they have us available.

04:13But Hamattan, per se, doesn't cause pneumonia.

04:16I mean, people are always, a little bit, are wary about the cold air.

04:20But the one thing about Hamattan now, where there's more of a preponderance,

04:25or more of an incidence of pneumonia, is that the air at that time is quite dry.

04:30So, the dry air will actually irritate the airways anyway,

04:36cause a bit of inflammation, and make them more susceptible to infection.

04:40But apart from that, you know, like I said, pneumonia is airborne,

04:43the particles are in the air, they're in the dust.

04:46So, dust can carry all these bacteria, it can carry the viruses,

04:49it can carry the causative agents of pneumonia.

04:52That's why there's a bit of more preponderance there.

04:54So, mothers, we go back to the basics, breastfeeding.

05:00Breastfed babies are healthy babies.

05:03More adequate nutrition, breastfeeding gives the adequate nutrition

05:06they need to avoid these illnesses.

05:09So, optimal breastfeeding.

05:10And where breastfeeding cannot be sought,

05:12the right amount of food, the right amount of food,

05:15we have national agencies who are into pediatric feeding,

05:18who have supplemented food that they give to the children,

05:21that will be wholesome for their bodies, you know.

05:25Also, to their health-seeking patterns,

05:29you know, just to know to get to the qualified healthcare assistant first,

05:34than going to the old neighbor, or to the old chemist,

05:37or to the old traditional birth attendant,

05:39who would actually take the money they're meant to spend anyway.

05:43And by the time they come to the hospital,

05:44where they need to spend money, or where they need to do some things,

05:47they're already, you know, they've already gone far.

05:50So, the health-seeking pattern, knowing what to look out for,

05:54in a child who's got a cough, who's got a running nose,

05:57who has a temperature, and also has chest injury,

06:00or has difficulty in breathing, or is vomiting a lot,

06:02these are signs that they would have been taught.

06:04You know, like I said, the health education,

06:06once they know what to look out for, and seek prompt help.

06:09And also, you know, make sure that the children have adequate,

06:13well-balanced nutrition.

06:14And also to make sure that the vaccinations,

06:16because when they have children,

06:18for instance, over here in the faculty,

06:19we go to the vaccination schedule for them,

06:22so they know to get the vaccinations.

06:24This is very important, because there's a pneumococcal,

06:26a conjugate vaccine, which is part of the vaccine,

06:29what do you call it, schedule that it gets,

06:33and also the haemophilus influenza,

06:35which causes, which helps to prevent it.

06:38So when they optimize the vaccination,

06:40they know the right places to go,

06:42they know the right food to give,

06:44you know, they know the clinical science to watch out for.

06:47Yeah, that helps with the mothers, yeah.

06:50We have art patient care,

06:52where they are seen in the hospital on an art patient basis,

06:55you know, they come in, the doctors examine them.

06:58We have inpatient care for those who can't go home

07:01with oral medication, for instance,

07:03oral antibiotics,

07:04and have to be admitted for intravenous medication.

07:07We have inpatient care for them.

07:09We have the vaccination clinics, like I told you.

07:12You know, the vaccination clinics are good for the preventatives,

07:15because they get the pneumococcal vaccine,

07:17they get the haemophilus influenza vaccine,

07:20amongst the schedule of immunization for the year.

07:24You know, we have the healthcare extension workers,

07:27who go around to ensure that they're giving education

07:30about ventilation, hygiene, personal and general hygiene.

07:35And we'll have our updated health centre facilities,

07:39you know, the basic ones that they will go to first.

07:42So there's a lot of care,

07:43and that's why I know,

07:44even though all be ambitious,

07:46it's achievable by 2030 for our country.

Category

Transcript

Be the first to comment

Recommended