Abuja – The National Primary Healthcare Development Agency (NPHCDA) has urged parents, caregivers, among others, to imbibe good sanitary practice to protect their children from pneumonia.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Pneumonia is an inflammation of the lungs, typically caused by bacteria and viruses with mild to life threatening symptoms.
The common signs of pneumonia in children include cough, with or without mucus, fever, difficulty in breathing, chest pain, sweating, pale lips, among others.
Dr Ado Muhammad, the Executive Secretary of NPHCDA made the call at the World Pneumonia Day commemoration organised by the agency on Thursday in Abuja, describing the diseases as leading cause of under five deaths.
He said that the Day, commemorated annually on Nov. 12, has the global theme “Push the Pace; Fight Pneumonia’’ and sub-theme “Enhancing Child’s Health Through Pneumonia Protection and Treatment.’’
It was aimed at sensitising the public on the effects of the disease, as well as spur contributions toward the global fight against the scourge of pneumonia.
While noting that Nigeria had more than 750,000 estimated under-five deaths annually due to the ailment, Muhammad, however, said pneumonia was preventable and treatable.
He blamed the number of cases in the country on environmental pollution, the lack of cross ventilation of rooms, poor hygiene, exposure of children to smoking environment, among others.
He urged parents, caregivers, among others, to desist from raising children in filthy environment, saying it was the surest way to reduced incidences of the disease in the country.
The executive secretary further advised women to engage in exclusive breastfeeding for a period of six months after birth to avoid exposing the children to pneumonia and related causes.
According to him, such practice make children prone to contamination.
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He urged parents to immunise their children with the Pneumococcal Conjugate Vaccines (PCV), saying it was the safe and effective means of protecting and preventing children against the disease.
He noted that “the present administration, through the Federal Ministry of Health, the NPHDA in collaboration with partners, is implementing the essential childhood medicines scale-up plan.
“This is geared toward scaling up prevention and treatment of pneumonia, diarrhoea and malaria as leading causes of childhood morbidity and mortality in Nigeria.
“The country is implementing the integrated global action plan for the prevention and control of pneumonia and diarrhioea and global vaccines action plan aimed at reducing morbidity and mortality in children toward accelerated achievement of MDGs.
“We are encouraging women to do exclusive breastfeeding because it is essential for the general wellbeing of the child.
“Also, households and caregivers should imbibe good sanitation practice, personal hygiene, hand washing and ensure that there is cross ventilation in the rooms and also minimise contact between children and smoke.’’
Dr Olanrewaju Tejuosho, the Chairman, Senate Committee on Primary Healthcare and Disease Control, assured Nigerians of NASS commitment to scale-up policies at ensuring the reduction of the killer disease.
According to him, the committee is set up to address the gaps associated to primary healthcare. (NAN)