Global action plan for the prevention and control of pneumonia (GAPP): Report of an informal consultation

Overview

More than two million children under five die of pneumonia every year, making it the single biggest killer of children worldwide. To address pneumonia in the context of our child survival strategy, WHO and UNICEF have initiated a Global Action Plan for the Prevention and Control of Pneumonia (GAPP). Other collaborators and stakeholders are the Hib Initiative and PneumoADIP. A steering group comprising of members from WHO and UNICEF has been formed.

GAPP aims to accelerate overall pneumonia prevention and control in the context of integrated interventions for child survival, by identifying priority activities to reduce pneumonia mortality.

This report describes the proceedings of a meeting in which leading experts in the field discussed the outline of comprehensive reviews in epidemiology, immunization, nutrition, indoor air pollution and case management of pneumonia. They also developed a technical consensus to achieve the prevention and control of pneumonia and outlined the next steps to move GAPP activities forward.