Jakarta, Beritasatu.com – For eight months the world has focused on dealing with the pandemic Covid-19. Even though besides Covid-19, there are still many other diseases that are also dangerous, one of which is Pneumonia which can also cause death for the sufferer.
Dr. Lula Kamal said that more than 800,000 children under five each year in the world die from pneumonia. Meanwhile in Indonesia, from 2019-2020, more than 19,000 children under five or two children per hour died from pneumonia. No kidding, Pneumonia is still one of the main causes of death in infants and toddlers. If not handled properly, in 2030 when the Sustainability Development Goal (SDG) ends, an estimated 11 million children under five will die from pneumonia. This figure is higher than the number of under-five deaths due to other diseases such as diarrhea and malaria.
“The number of realized cases of pneumonia in 2019 to early 2020 was 466,524 cases or 52.7% of the estimated number of cases in 2019. This means that there may still be more cases, but not recorded because they do not access health services,” explained Dr. Lula. Kamal opened the online discussion for World Pneumonia Day 2020, Thursday (12/11/2020).
Pediatrician, Soedjatmiko, explained that pneumonia is an acute inflammatory disease of the lungs that makes the lungs fill with fluid and inflammatory cells caused by bacteria, viruses and fungi. This condition can cause serious health complications and lead to death.
During a pandemic the impact of Covid-19 on children can increase cases of pneumonia because these two diseases both attack the lungs. Soedjatmiko said that cases of children with pneumonia are expected to increase, if referring to the Covid-19 data until October 5, 2020, there are 31,633 children who are infected with the Covid-19 virus.
Soedjatmiko also revealed that pneumonia is often realized too late, because the initial symptoms are difficult to distinguish from other minor respiratory diseases such as colds and colds (common cold).
“The impact is that many children who suffer from pneumonia do not get the treatment they should be and have a fatal impact on their health,” he said.
He also continued, almost all causes of pneumonia can be prevented but it requires great attention and effort because of the coverage. Unfortunately in Indonesia, exclusive breastfeeding is still 41%, complete basic immunization is only 57.9%, PCV3 immunization is 8% (2018), stunting still 27.7%, defecating in an inappropriate place is still 10%, and 64% of people do not have hand washing facilities at their homes and ineffective hand washing practices 6.7 (49.8%).
In addition, public knowledge about pneumonia is still low, the quality of services is inadequate, and there are geographical problems in reaching health services, especially in remote areas.
“This data is concerning and it is estimated that the figure will increase due to the direct impact of Covid-19 on children and decreased access to child health services such as immunization and monitoring growth and development for early detection at posyandu, “he explained.
Source: Voice of Update
– .
