Over 24,000 Pakistani children die of Pneumonia every year: UNICEF

The Express Tribune

Over 24,000 children in Pakistan die of Pneumonia every year that is caused by a bacterium called Streptococcus Pneumonia, revealed a report by Unicef officials on Thursday. Unicef officials Dr Tariq Iqbal and Dr Aurangzaib Kamal revealed facts about Pneumonia at a workshop held to introduce a newly launched Pneumococcal Vaccine (PCV10). The workshop was jointly organised by Unicef, the government of Balochistan and Society of Social Development. “According to a survey report compiled from the data of government and private hospitals, about 663,000 Pneumonia cases are reported every year in Pakistan and over 24,000 children suffering from Pneumonia out of the total number of these cases die of the disease,” the officials said. They added that the maternal mortality rate at the national level is 272 out of every 100,000 and the child mortality rate is 94 out of every 100,000. They further stated that the annual maternal mortality rate in Balochistan stands at 785 out of every 100,000 and the child mortality rate at 89 out of every 100,000. The officials announced that Unicef, in collaboration with the provincial government, was going to introduce Pneumococcal Vaccine (PCV10) in January 2013.