To tackle pneumonia, the number two killer of Nigeria's children under five years, the Wife of Nigeria's Senate President and Founder of the Wellbeing Foundation Africa, Mrs. Toyin Saraki, has called for increased efforts to ensure that interventions which have been proven to effectively prevent and treat childhood pneumonia are readily accessible to those most vulnerable.

Delivering the keynote address at the 2015 World Pneumonia Day (WPD) Symposium and launch of the Nigeria Pneumonia Social Media Video Challenge (NGfightpneumonia) held in Abuja, Nigeria, Mrs. Saraki further called for Reproductive, Maternal, Newborn, Child and Adolescent Health and Nutrition (RMNCAH+N) stakeholders to reaffirm commitments to address the pneumonia burden in the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

Currently, pneumonia kills 127,000 children in Nigeria, every year, and only about 35% of children who have symptoms highly suggestive of pneumonia do get access to treatment. Proven interventions that can reduce the onset and severity pneumonia include exclusive breastfeeding for six months; increased access to vaccines; demand creation and behavioral change communications; the reduction of household air pollution; and increased sanitation and hygiene.

However, these are not be scaled up, appropriately, across the country. Also, Nigerian women and families lack enough client-held personal health records, for mothers to demand vaccinations and healthy practices for their children, as championed by The Wellbeing Foundation Africa, for many years.

Addressing the challenges facing childhood pneumonia eradication, Mrs. Toyin Saraki stated, "Due to the simplicity of these interventions, limited public health investments have gone into the prevention, treatment and control of pneumonia.

"Take breastfeeding, for example. Breastfeeding – which can prevent childhood pneumonia - also safeguards against malnutrition and prevents 800,000 child deaths from malnutrition each year. However, breastfeeding levels remain woefully low in Nigeria, where only 17% of babies under the age of six months are exclusively breastfed."

To fight pneumonia, the Wellbeing Foundation Africa continues to uphold its 2012 commitment in support of the Nigerian Government's 'Saving One Million Lives' campaign, while empowering mothers with its client-held personal health records (PHRs), which aids in identifying children with suspected pneumonia - giving them the opportunity to receive timely and appropriate treatment.

Commemorated annually on the 12th of November, World Pneumonia Day is a day set aside to raise awareness and promote interventions that prevent and treat pneumonia. Organized by the Johns Hopkins International Vaccine Access Center (IVAC), the 2015 World Pneumonia Day Symposium serves to take stock of the progress made in the roll-out of key pneumonia prevention, protection and treatment initiatives in Nigeria.