Nigeria could lose more than a million children to pneumonia says UN

A report by the UN’s children agency Unicef has forecast that roughly 1.4 million children in Nigeria could die from pneumonia over the next decade. 

Unicef say that Nigeria could have the highest pneumonia death-rate in the world. 

The agency predicts that India will be the second worst country for childhood pneumonia deaths, followed by the Democratic Republic of Congo. 

Overall, Unicef have said that as many as 6.3 million children could die from pneumonia worldwide. Including other major diseases, up to nine million children could die in the next decade if preventative measures are not taken. 

The children’s agency advised that pneumonia vaccination coverage should be increased to prevent deaths, tweeting that Nigeria had already ramped up its program of inoculations. 

Photo credit: Twitter | UNICEF