Progress
Too few children with pneumonia are receiving appropriate care
Prompt treatment with effective antibiotics is critical for reducing deaths from pneumonia. Yet, less than two thirds of children (61 per cent) with pneumonia in the developing world (excluding China) are taken to an appropriate health-care provider. The highest levels of care-seeking for pneumonia are found in the Middle East and North Africa (76 per cent), East Asia and the Pacific (excluding China, 66 per cent) and South Asia (66 per cent), while sub-Saharan Africa lags behind at 51 per cent.
Coverage of care-seeking and treatment for children with pneumonia is still falling short
Proportion of children under five with suspected pneumonia taken to an appropriate health-care provider, 2006–2010
Note: Global estimates are based on a subset of 74 countries, covering 80% of the under-five population in the developing world (excluding China for which comparable data are not available). Regional estimates represent data from countries covering at least 50% of the regional population. Data coverage was insufficient to calculate the regional average for the CEE/CIS region.
*Excludes China.
Source: UNICEF global databases 2011, from Multiple Indicator Cluster Surveys (MICS), Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS) and other national surveys.
In developing countries, a larger proportion of children with suspected pneumonia in urban areas are taken to an appropriate health-care provider, as compared to children in rural areas. The largest urban-rural gap for this indicator is seen in South Asia.
Urban-rural gap: children with suspected pneumonia in urban areas are more likely to be taken to an appropriate provider than children in rural areas
Proportion of children under five with suspected pneumonia taken to an appropriate health-care provider, 2006–2010, by residence according to region
* Excludes China.
Source: UNICEF global databases 2011, from MICS, DHS and other national surveys.
Antibiotic treatment for pneumonia
As childhood pneumonia is largely diagnosed by its clinical symptoms (cough with fast or difficult breathing due to a chest-related problem), mostly in settings without adequate diagnostic tools, it is therefore not clear that all children with suspected pneumonia should receive antibiotics.
In the developing world, on average, one in three children with suspected pneumonia receives antibiotics. Among the regions with available data, the Middle East and North Africa region presents the highest coverage, at 62 per cent, and South Asia the lowest coverage, at 18 per cent.
Antibiotic use among children with suspected pneumonia varies greatly
Proportion of children under five with suspected pneumonia receiving antibiotics, 2006–2010
* Excludes China.
Source: UNICEF global databases 2011, from MICS, DHS and other national surveys.
References
UNICEF, Pneumonia: The forgotten killer of children, UNICEF and World Health Organization, New York and Geneva, 2006.
Black, S. et al. for the Child Health Epidemiology Reference Group of WHO and UNICEF, ‘Global, regional, and national causes of child mortality in 2008: A systematic analysis’, in The Lancet, vol. 375, no. 9730, 5 June 2010, pp. 1969-1987.