As the world marked World Pneumonia Day on Wednesday, Sanofi has strengthened its commitment to the fight against pneumonia with the Paediatric Initiative tagged: “Healthy Children, Happy Children.”
This is being done in partnership with the Paediatric Association of Nigeria.
Speaking on this initiative, the Medical Director of Sanofi Nigeria and Ghana, Dr. Fifen Inoussa, said: “Paediatrics is a priority for Africa because one child out of four in the world is African and 50 per cent of the worldwide infant mortality occurs on this continent.
“The Sanofi Pediatric Initiative corresponds to the strong desire to reinforce our commitment to child healthcare.”
The President of PAN, Prof. Adebiyi Olowu, stated that pneumonia is one of the preventable but major causes of child mortality in Nigeria.
Olowu said it is essential that parents, guardians and care givers take essential precautions to ensure good health-seeking behaviour.
He urged that preventive efforts such as proper nutrition, exclusive breast feeding, hand-washing and routine immunisations be emphasised to avoid pneumonia.
Stressing that pneumonia is a killer, Prof. Olowu called on government, relevant agencies and stakeholders to make concerted efforts that would significantly improve on the health of children.
Dr. Amina Biobaku of Isalu Hospital, Ogba, Lagos State, one of the numerous beneficiaries of the PAN medical education programmes on pneumonia supported by Sanofi, testified that the training has positively impacted her clinical practice.
Estelle Dogbo, the Product Manager at Sanofi, said: “The Paediatrics Initiative, which adapts healthcare offer to children, relies on three commitments.
“The first commitment is the development of medicines and vaccines offer adapted to paediatric care.
“The second commitment involves provision of quality medical information and dedicated training to healthcare professionals by way of continual medical education programmes in paediatric topics.
“The third commitment entails the deployment of awareness campaigns to the general public.”
The World Pneumonia Day provides an annual forum for the world to stand together and demand action in the fight against pneumonia.
More than 100 organisations representing the interests of children joined forces as the Global Coalition against Child Pneumonia to hold the first World Pneumonia Day on November 2, 2009.
Pneumonia is a preventable and treatable disease that sickens 155 million children under-5 and kills 1.6 million each year.
This makes pneumonia the number one killer of children under-5, claiming more young lives than AIDS, malaria and measles combined.
The World Pneumonia Day helps to bring this health crisis to the public’s attention and encourages policy makers and grassroots organisers alike to combat the disease.
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