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World Pneumonia Day

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Photo Credit - David Rotbard

The second annual World Pneumonia Day was held on November 12, 2010. World Pneumonia Day was launched in 2009 by a broad coalition of public and nonprofit organizations—including the Sabin Vaccine Institute and PACE—to mobilize efforts to fight a neglected disease that kills more than two million children under age five every year. The event helped bring the health crisis to the public’s attention and encouraged advocates, donors and policy makers alike to take action to combat the disease.

PACE members around the world again worked to help organize World Pneumonia Day events and conduct outreach to make November 12, 2010 a truly global day. Here are a few examples of how PACE was involved with World Pneumonia Day 2010:

  • The Global Coalition against Child Pneumonia, of which Sabin and PACE are a part, organized a series of events, including advocacy activities at local metro stations with the PneumoniaFighters! (pictured above) to raise awareness of WPD and the global toll of pneumonia. Commuters were encouraged to send PneumoniaGrams to their country’s leader, take pictures with the PneumoniaFighters! and spread the word on pneumonia.
  • PACE Co-Chair Orin Levine participated in The Faces of Pneumonia - A Conversation Moderated by Cokie Roberts. Hosted at the Kaiser Foundation in Washington DC, and organized by the Coalition, the conversation brought together Dr. Levine; Ms. Roberts, Dr. Ezekiel Emanuel, Special Health Adviser to the Director, Office of Management and Budget, the White House; Mrs. Shannon Duffy Peterson, Parent Advocate with Parents of Kids with Infectious Diseases (PKIDs) and; Dr. Salim Sadruddin, Adviser, Child Health and Nutrition, Save the Children together to discuss the global, local and personal toll of pneumonia.
  • PACE sponsored a series of small grants to encourage and support global WPD activities, recipients included organizations in Nepal, Mali, the Philippines and Egypt.
  • Numerous events were organized in China, including a conference on pneumonia for the Chinese Society of Pediatrics and the Chinese Subsociety of Pediatric Pulmonolgy, announcements in local papers and interviews on local tv, and activities for health workers and pediatricians in numerous cities.
  • PACE member Zulfiquar Bhutta participated in a discussion on the issues of pneumonia prevention and management in Pakistan.
  • Bangladesh once again organized partners in events to mark the day, involving the Child Health Research Foundation, Bangladesh Paediatric Association, Save the Children and others.

Interested in getting involved in World Pneumonia Day?

PACE suggests the following activities for organizations:

  • Dedicate part of your organization’s November newsletter to World Pneumonia Day and the issue of pneumonia
  • Join the World Pneumonia Day Coalition. To learn more about joining the Coalition, click here
  • Participate in a PACE event, organize your own, or mobilize your members to take action
  • In partnership with PACE co-author an op-ed in your country designed to call attention to this important issue

PACE suggests the following activities for individuals:

Please check back for updates and materials you can use to help spread the word, and find out more about activities for last year's World Pneumonia Day here.

For more information on getting involved, email us directly at PACE@sabin.org.


PACE is a project of Sabin Vaccine Institute