The CaT Secretariat is sharing the attached editorial from Margaret Chan (WHO) and Tony Lake (UNICEF) and links for the complete documents on the Global Action Plan for the Prevention and Control of Pneumonia and Diarrhoea (GAPPD) which have now been released:
Related to this, the Lancet series of papers on Pneumonia and Diarrhoea can be accessed at:
There has also been a lot of media coverage - selected articles which may be of particular interest include the following:
BLOG from Seth Berkley:
Statement of support:
We would like to highlight that CaT Member, Dr Zulfi Bhutta, played a leading role in development of the GAPPD.
The CaTS was consulted during the early development of this document and we appreciate the effort made by Dr Osman Mansoor to include CaT.
As with the Global Vaccine Action Plan (GVAP), as country and regional discussions are initiated, lets all work to assure that the control and prevention of enteric fever and in particular typhoid and paratyphoid fever is included in the GAPPD work plans, as appropriate.
Article:
Some 19000 children under the age
of 5 years die each and every day, with 5500 of these deaths caused by
pneumonia and diarrhoea. These are not mere statistics. 2 million young lives
are lost each year from these two eminently preventable causes of death.This
situation is completely unacceptable. Despite the fact that the basic elements
needed to reduce childhood deaths from pneumonia and diarrhoea are well known
and of low cost, current coverage is appallingly low.
We welcome the Lancet Series
on Childhood Pneumonia and Diarrhoea.The Series provides the evidence base to
make the case that ending preventable child deaths from pneumonia and diarrhoea
within the next 12 years is ambitious but achievable and necessary. Momentum to
reduce child mortality continues to build, and it is imperative for the world’s
children that we take advantage of this opportunity.
As we approach the 1000-day mark
before the Millennium Development Goal deadline, a raft of interconnected
initiatives provides a platform to accelerate progress. The UN
Secretary-General’s widely endorsed Global
Strategy for Women’s and Children’s Health aims
to save 16 million lives through a “continuum of care” approach; a Global Vaccine Action Plan is working towards universal access to immunisation by
2020; more than 170 countries have signed on to A Promise Renewed,
the call to action spearheaded by the Governments of Ethiopia and India,
UNICEF, and USAID to end all preventable child deaths by 2035; and the UN Commission on Life-Saving Commodities for Women and
Children is helping to improve access to
priority medicines.
In this context, it is critical to
intensify efforts to tackle pneumonia and diarrhoea—the two biggest killers of children
younger than 5 years after the newborn period, which account for about 29% of
all under-5 deaths. A new WHO/UNICEF Integrated
Global Action Plan for the Prevention and Control of Pneumonia and Diarrhoea5 aims to help countries meet this goal by establishing
healthy environments to protect children from pneumonia and diarrhoea and by
increasing access to cost-effective interventions for both prevention and
treatment.
The Integrated Plan builds upon two previous plans from 2009: the Global Action Plan for the Prevention and Control of
Pneumonia6 and Why Children are Still Dying and What Can be Done,7 a seven-point plan for comprehensive diarrhoea
control. We have encouraged the use of cost-eff ective prevention—eg, exclusive
breastfeeding, vaccines, and access to clean water—and treatment with simple,
inexpensive antibiotics, oral rehydration salts, and zinc. Now we must help
countries unplug the bottlenecks that are keeping these services from the children
who need them.
Children who are poor, hungry, and
living in remote areas are most likely to suffer from these “forgotten killers”,
and the burden that pneumonia and diarrhoea places on their families and on
health systems aggravates existing inequalities. Identifying the children at
greatest risk, who are the hardest to reach and the most neglected, and
targeting them with interventions that are proven to work will close the gap
and end these entirely preventable deaths. Better coordination and integration
are key to tackling pneumonia and diarrhoea. The determinants that underlie
these diseases are often the same. The children at risk of diarrhoea are the
same ones at risk of pneumonia.
The strategies for prevention are similar, and the
places where systems need strengthening to deliver services in communities,
clinics, and hospitals are also common to both diseases. The Integrated Plan makes
a strong case for more efficient integration and identifies key steps to be
taken. It will help countries to analyse local data, act on the results, and
monitor progress towards clear, achievable goals. This requires a concerted effort to use a systematic approach of sharpening evidence-based planning and
implementation at all levels, and ensuring eff ective systems of monitoring and
accountability for results, within existing frameworks such as the Commission on Information and Accountability for Women’s and
Children’s Health and Countdown to 2015.
We must also build on lessons
learned and the good practices and innovations that some countries have been
applying, which include strengthening primary care; removing financial
barriers to access; expanding the role of non-governmental providers;
establishing public private partnerships; and making use of new mobile.This is
not a job for the health sector alone. Successful implementation of the Integrated Plan requires
engagement of families, health-care providers, and key actors in water and
sanitation. There must also be strong cooperation among UN agencies, national
governments, and the private sector. And it must begin today.
Margaret Chan, *Anthony Lake
WHO, Geneva, Switzerland (MC); and
UNICEF, New York, NY 10017,
USA (AL)
alake@unicef.org
technologies to achieve
sustainable, quality services.
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