As pneumonia and diarrhoea take away lives of many children in India annually, the government has decided to include the diseases into the National Immunisation Programme. Vaccines will be provided to patients at state-run hospitals and healthcare centres. “The decision to include the two diseases in the National Immunisation Programme was taken after it was found that maximum number of children died because of them,” an official told The Sunday Standard. Hepatitis B, diphtheria, polio, tetanus, measles, rubella, pertussis are included in the programme.
UNICEF says that in 2013, the two diseases killed over 3 lakh children worldwide. India ranks third lowest compared to 15 high burden countries for the Global Action Plan for Pneumonia and Diarrhoea (GAPPD) score. It is estimated that 38 per cent of all under-five child deaths are caused by diarrhoea and pneumonia, which accounts for around two lakh under-five deaths and over 3.8 lakh deaths in the same age group respectively.