According to the World Health Organization, there are seven children dying from diseases caused by pneumococcus bacteria every minute

Pneumococcal disease causes pneumonia, meningitis, sepsis and other life-threatening ailments, and kills 1.6 million people — including more than 800,000 children under the age of five — every year. The experts meeting in Istanbul to ensure that pneumococcal vaccine is covered by the public health insurance called for global action.

The world’s leading health experts came together in Istanbul to inform and encourage Turkish authorities about the inclusion of pneumococcal vaccination in public health insurance coverage and monitoring of its results.

ISTANBUL — International experts in the fields of health and infectious diseases have joined forces to raise awareness and encourage global prevention of pneumococcal disease, the world’s leading infectious killer of children and adults worldwide.

One child dies every 30 seconds around the world due to pneumococcal diseases. According to the results of a study, the level of awareness of these diseases is only two percent.

Global health experts unite to combat the world’s leading infectious killer!

Pneumococcal diseases rank at the top among terminal illnesses causing death in children and adults worldwide. These diseases, including pneumonia, meningitis, sepsis and other life-threatening diseases, result in the death of some 1.6 million people every year worldwide, half of whom are children under the age of five. Convening in Istanbul to ensure that pneumococcal vaccine is covered by public health insurance, experts called for global action.

Czech specialists engaged the international Pneumococcal Awareness Council of Experts (PACE) and tried to negotiate with the Ministry of Health for implementation of routine pneumococcal vaccination. Vulnerable groups are mainly small children under two years of age and elders. Serious pneumococcal diseases result in about 430 patients per year, and 14 per cent of infected children die.

Did you know that Czech children can receive vaccination against the treacherous pneumococcal infection from two months of age? A three year-old boy has recently died from it in our country. Pneumococcus often causes serious infections in various parts of the human body. They can be divided into serious invasive disease and non-invasive infections of the upper breathing apparatus (barotitis, nasal cavity infl ammations).