Pneumonia / SAANS (Social Awareness and Action to Neutralize Pneumonia Successfully)

Pneumonia poses a significant health threat to children under 5 years of age across the country. Pneumonia continues to be the topmost infectious killer among under-five children, contributing to 15% of under-five deaths in the country. Death due to childhood Pneumonia are preventable if there is effective coverage of protective, preventive, and treatment interventions with specific emphasis on exclusive breastfeeding, adequate complementary feeding and Vitamin A supplementation, vaccination coverage, safe WASH practices, and reduced household air pollution. To accelerate the reduction of child mortality due to pneumonia Pneumococcal (PCV) vaccine has been introduced into the immunization schedule. To ensure that Pneumonia is tackled in a focused manner GoI launched SAANS (Social Awareness and Action to Neutralize Pneumonia Successfully) campaign in November 2019.

The SAANS campaign is observed from the month of November to February every year with the objective:

• To create awareness in the community on interventions for the protection and prevention of childhood pneumonia

• To increase caregiver awareness to enable them to identify pneumonia early

• Dispel myths and notions and trigger behavior change to take pneumonia seriously and seek care early.