November 12 marks World Pneumonia Day, an annual global initiative established in 2009 to raise awareness about pneumonia—the world’s leading infectious killer of children under 5 and a major cause of death among adults, claiming over 2.2 million lives annually.
For 2025, the official theme is “Every Breath Counts: Stop Pneumonia in Its Tracks.” This theme, announced by organizations like the Every Breath Counts Coalition and supported by WHO and UNICEF, emphasizes urgent prevention strategies such as vaccination, improved nutrition, clean air access, and equitable treatment (e.g., antibiotics and oxygen therapy) to halt the disease’s spread, especially in low-resource settings where risks like malnutrition and pollution are high.
The focus aligns with global goals to reduce child pneumonia mortality below 3 per 1,000 live births by 2030.
