Pneumonia claimed lives of more than 14 children every hour in India in 2018: study

Pneumonia killed more than 14 children under the age of five years every hour in 2018 in India, which was among the top five countries responsible for over half of the child deaths due to the disease globally that year, a study has said.

The study - 'Fighting for Breath in India' - by Save the Children, UNICEF and Every Breath Counts, said pneumonia killed more than 1,27,000 under-five children in 2018.

In India, one child under the age of five years dies every 4 minutes due to pneumonia, with malnutrition and pollution as the two major contributors, Dr Rajesh Khanna, Deputy Director of Health and Nutrition, Save the Children said.

Just five countries were responsible for more than half of child pneumonia deaths - Nigeria (162,000), India (127,000), Pakistan (58,000), the Democratic Republic of Congo (40,000) and Ethiopia (32,000), it said