As the Mari-care Foundation for Widows, Single Parents, Orphans and Vulnerable children in Nigeria marked the World Pneumonia Day 2025, women recounts and share their experiences on the challenges they faced as their children battled the deadly disease.
A checked by GLOBAL TRACKER revealed that Pneumonia remained the number 1 killer of children under 5, claiming more lives of children at under five years of age more than AIDS, malaria, and measles combined.
Shakirat Bello, a women from Unguwa uku of Tarauni local government area in Kano state said she almost lost her first child to Pneumonia in 2016 as a result of lung inflammation.
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“We first think it was common cold, we rush to near by medicine store and buy antibiotics for my child. It was in the middle of one night i discover that my child is finding it difficult breath, my husband and i panic thinking for the lost of our first child. So we rush to Aminu Kano teaching hospital were a medical doctor save my head and use oxygen to blows his lungs air sacs which almost blocked due to cold,” she said.
“The medical doctor asked, a you attending Pneumonia vaccination, i replied No, he warned me that my failure to vaccinate my child is tantamount to systematically implicates my child, insisting that we must ensure attending vaccination to avoid feature scenario. And from that day i am taking vaccination of any type seriously, infact, i don’t need anybody to mind me of time to vaccinate my subsequent children,” she added.
Another Mother, Hauwa’u Abdullahi said it take them hours before her child recover after his lugs air sacs blocked and later blow by professionals at one health facility in Kano state.
She lamented that “if you want have healthy child don’t play with vaccination of anytime, adding that my neibour’s child died of same lungs issue and it was confirmed that it was Pneumonia behind his death”.
She insist that the impact of pneumonia on women and children cannot be underated, emphasizing prevention, treatment, and vaccination efforts as the only way out of the problems.
The World Health Organization (WHO) set aside every 12 November annually as world pneumonia day which provides an annual forum for the world in the fight against the children’s deadly disease.
More than 100 organizations representing the interests of children joined forces as the Global Coalition against Child Pneumonia to hold the first Day on 12 November 2009.
Pneumonia is a preventable and treatable disease that sickens 155 million children under 5 and kills 1.6 million each year.