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Pneumonia in Nigeria: The way forward
Chizoba Wonodi1,2, Chisom Obi-Jeff3, Adegoke Falade4
1International Vaccine Access Center at the Department of International Health, Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, Maryland.
Insights
Nigeria faces challenges in child pneumonia control due to a weak health system, lack of coordination, and poor data. A new National Pneumonia Control Strategy aims to address these issues for better child survival rates.
Area of Science:
- Public Health
- Child Health
- Infectious Disease Control
Background:
- Pneumonia is a leading cause of mortality in Nigerian children under five.
- Global reductions in child pneumonia deaths contrast with Nigeria's minimal progress (8% decline vs. 51% globally).
- Key barriers include a weak health system, insufficient coordinated efforts, and inadequate data for accountability.
Purpose of the Study:
- To identify factors hindering Nigeria's progress in child pneumonia control.
- To introduce the newly developed National Pneumonia Control Strategy.
- To emphasize the need for political will and sustainable financing for effective implementation.
Main Methods:
- This is a commentary analyzing factors affecting pneumonia control in Nigeria.
- It reviews the context of global and national pneumonia mortality trends.
- It discusses the components and potential impact of the new National Pneumonia Control Strategy.
Main Results:
- Nigeria's child pneumonia mortality decline significantly lags behind global trends.
- Weak health systems, poor coordination, and lack of timely data are identified as major impediments.
- A new National Pneumonia Control Strategy has been developed to provide a unified approach.
Conclusions:
- Effective implementation of the National Pneumonia Control Strategy requires strong political will and sustainable financing.
- Addressing systemic weaknesses is crucial for reducing pneumonia morbidity and mortality in Nigerian children.
- Successful strategy execution will contribute to achieving national health goals and global targets like SDG 3.2.
Abstract:
Pneumonia is the leading cause of child deaths in Nigeria. Interventions to combat pneumonia are known and globally available, but not yet deployed effectively in Nigeria. While the under-five pneumonia deaths dropped globally by 51% during the Millennium Development Goals (MDG) years (2000 to 2015), the rate declined by a mere 8% in Nigeria. In this commentary, we focus on three factors that may have stalled Nigeria's progress on pneumonia control. First, a chronically weak health system failed to deliver the needed services at scale. Second, strong coordination of a multipronged and well-funded push against pneumonia was absent. Third, sound and timely data on pneumonia intervention coverage were lacking, thus blunting the accountability mechanisms that could have driven quick, targeted action. In response, the Federal Ministry of Health recently developed a National Pneumonia Control Strategy with the support of the "Every Breath Counts Coalition" (EBCC). This strategy, a first of its kind, articulates a common vision for reducing pneumonia-led morbidity and mortality and provides a unified approach to respond comprehensively to pneumonia within and outside the health sector. Strong political will and sustainable financing are now needed to effectively implement this strategy and accelerate progress on pneumonia control. This will contribute hugely to achieving the government's health goals, the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 3.2 and the Global Action Plan on Pneumonia and Diarrhoea (GAPPD) targets.
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