Earlier this month,
a landmark decision by the World Health Organization (WHO) was made to include a new indication for oxygen in its Model List of Essential Medicines and List of Essential Medicines for Children, identifying oxygen as a medicine essential for the management of hypoxemia. Hypoxemia, or dangerously low levels of oxygen in the blood, can sometimes be fatal without timely oxygen therapy. PATH's HO2PE campaign played a large role in advocating for this important decision.
Providing oxygen would help those with hypoxemia breathe easier, thus reducing their severity and assisting with the healing process. Hypoxemia can result from conditions such as pneumonia, which is the leading cause of mortality in children under five. According to PATH, the WHO action could reduce child deaths from pneumonia by 35 percent annually in high-burden settings.
Creativity and Animation Provide an Unconventional Way to Advocate for Pneumonia
Artists in Nigeria have focused their camera lenses on pneumonia-the country's leading cause of death among children under age 5-in answer to a video contest launched on World Pneumonia Day 2016 (November 12) to raise awareness about the issue, proven solutions, and gaps in resources. This Q&A blog series features the top three winners and their new perspectives on engaging in health advocacy.
Terver Malu, 2nd place winner, used animation to raise awareness of pneumonia and encourage families to prevent the disease with vaccines.
One quarter of the world's children are being denied the opportunity to have the childhoods they deserve and grow to their full potential, a new report from Save the Children revealed. Launched to coincide with International Children's Day, June 1, "Stolen Childhoods" has found that at least 700 million children worldwide have had the promise of a full childhood brought to an early end. The reasons vary from extreme violence and conflict, often driving families from their homes; early marriage and pregnancy; child labor; poor health; malnutrition and food insecurity; and not having the chance to go to school.
In March, The Global Handwashing Partnership published The State of Handwashing in 2016: Annual Review to look to learn more about handwashing and apply the latest evidence to programs in meaningful ways. In this summary, key themes and findings from 59 peer-reviewed handwashing-related research papers published in 2016 relevant to low and middle-income countries are examined.The review focuses on five key themes:
Established in 2009, World Pneumonia Day is marked every year on November 12th to r
aise awareness about pneumonia, the world's leading infectious killer of children under the age of five; promote interventions to protect against, prevent and treat pneumonia; and generate action to combat pneumonia.
Earlier this month,
