The Ministry of Health (MoH) in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC)—with support from USAID through the Integrated Health Project and SIAPS Program, as well as UNICEF and other partners—has organized a National Pneumonia Day to raise awareness of pneumonia prevention and management. DRC’s National Pneumonia Day falls on November 12, coinciding with World Pneumonia Day. Using the theme of Push the Pace, the aim is to promote careseeking from appropriately trained providers and key preventive practices.
The objectives for National Pneumonia Day are to:
- Disseminate treatment protocols for pneumonia to health care providers promoting case management according to the newly revised standard treatment guidelines.
- Sensitize the population, through media campaigns, on the importance of care seeking and early treatment of pneumonia
- Teach religious leaders, community-based organizations, and community health workers to promote early careseeking at health facilities and/or from trained health care workers.
Through these innovative activities to “push the pace” for prevention and management of pneumonia, the MoH and its partners, hope to make every breath count and strive to end preventable deaths due to pneumonia.
