Abuja — World Health Organisation (WHO) said yesterday $39 billion was required to tackle pneumonia in 68 "high burden" countries including Nigeria, where 20 per cent of children under the age of five years die annually.

Speaking in Abuja, at a ceremony to mark the World Pneumonia Day, Representative of the World Health Organisation in Nigeria, Peter Eriki, said the amount would be required to address the Global Action Plan for Prevention and control of Pneumonia (GAPP) by scaling up recommended measures in countries most hit between 2010 and 2015.

The cost, it said, is expected to double over a six-year period, rising from an annual need of $3.8 billion in 2010 to $8.0 bn in 2015.

"Pneumonia is the biggest cause of child deaths in the world, killing 1.8 million children under five years of age every year, more than 98 per cent of which occur in 68 developing countries. In Nigeria, 20 per cent of all under five deaths are due to pneumonia, only second to malaria (24per cent), followed by diarrhoea (16per cent), measles (six per cent) and five per cent due to HIV/AIDS. In spite of its huge toll, relatively few resources are dedicated to tackling this child killer," he said.

In his speech, Minister of State for Health, Dr Idi Hong, said Nigeria was collaborating with development partners in an effort to introduce new vaccines with Pneumonia Conjugate Vaccine (PCV) scheduled for 2010, while noting that "a reduction in the incidence of the disease would also contribute to Nigeria's attainment of MDG Goals, especially MDG4."

In his remarks, Executive Director, National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA), Alhaji Ali Pate, represented by the Director, Planning Research and Statistics, Ibrahim Labaran, said the forum was convened to "create awareness on measures designed to galvanise stakeholders to advocate for effective control of the disease and set the platform for introduction of the new Pneumococcal Conjugate Vaccine (PCV), as part of our routine immunisation."