Health officials urged parents to seek immediate medical attention if children developed symptoms like rapid breathing, chest indrawing, persistent cough or breathing difficulty, stressing that timely treatment was crucial
As per the National Health Policy 2017, the target is to bring down child deaths due to pneumonia to less than three per 1,000 live births,” Dr Abhay Dhanorkar, district health officer for Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, said.
The health machinery will make special efforts to ensure maximum eligible children complete vaccination,” Dr Dhanorkar said. “The main objective of the campaign is to reduce pneumonia cases among children, identify symptoms in time, ensure proper treatment and prevent child deaths. “Special awareness will be created about Pneumococcal Conjugate Vaccine (PCV) to protect children from pneumonia. Under the universal immunisation programme, PCV doses are given at the sixth week, fourteenth week and ninth month. Health officials urged parents to seek immediate medical attention if children developed symptoms like rapid breathing, chest indrawing, persistent cough or breathing difficulty, stressing that timely treatment was crucial.
Launched on World Pneumonia Day, the campaign will run till Feb 2027. The campaign will follow a three-pronged strategy of protection, prevention and treatment, focusing on early breastfeeding, exclusive breastfeeding for six months, complementary feeding after six months, timely immunisation, vitamin A supplementation, hand hygiene and reducing indoor air pollution. ASHA workers, community health officers, medical officers and other frontline staff will receive training and refresher sessions on identifying pneumonia symptoms, classifying cases and providing appropriate treatment. Special emphasis will be placed on prompt treatment of severe cases and referrals when required.
Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar : The public health department on Thursday launched the Social Awareness and Actions to Neutralize Pneumonia Successfully (SAANS) campaign across Marathwada and other parts of Maharashtra to reduce child deaths caused by pneumonia.