The fight to reduce deaths from the single, biggest infectious killer of adults and children has never been more urgent. In 2021, pneumonia claimed the lives of 2.2 million, including 502,000 children, and COVID-19 killed an additional 10 million, according to the Global Burden of Disease. Together, they caused more deaths than any other cause, including heart disease. With climate change continuing to increase the burden of respiratory conditions and the risk of another pandemic of respiratory infection high, there is a pneumonia crisis across the life course placing millions at risk of infection and death.
Tragically, it is the very young and the very old who are at greatest risk. Children living in areas with low vaccination rates and rising malnutrition, and in homes that use polluting fuels for cooking and heating, are particularly vulnerable. Older adults exposed to outdoor air pollution – most significantly from burning fossil fuels – and smoking are also at risk. Almost half of the estimated 1.5 million pneumonia deaths among adults aged over 50 are attributable to air pollution and smoking.
English