Did you know that pneumonia is the leading killer of children under the age of five? The infection kills one child every 15 seconds.

Although it’s not a neglected tropical disease, the deadly impact that pneumonia wreaks on individuals around the world—particularly children under the age of five—is neglected and unknown by many.

And that’s why today, November 2, marks the first annual World Pneumonia Day created to mobilize efforts to fight a neglected disease that kills more than 4 million people each year and claims the lives of more children under the age of five than AIDS, malaria, and measles combined.

You can help Sabin Vaccine Institute’s Pneumococcal Awareness Council of Experts (PACE)—a coalition of global experts working to raise awareness about pneumococcal disease, a leading cause of pneumonia—put a spotlight on this preventable infection by educating yourself, family and friends about pneumonia; signing the pledge to fight the disease; and participating in a World Pneumonia Day event.

Armed with knowledge, we can utilize the readily available tools to treat and prevent pneumonia, and protect children from ever contracting the infection.

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The Global Network and PACE are initiatives of the Sabin Vaccine Institute, whose mission is to reduce needless human suffering from infectious and neglected tropical diseases.

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