SAANS aims to reduce child mortality due to Pneumonia

News:Union Ministry for Health and Family Welfare(MoHFW) has launched SAANS campaign to reduce child mortality due to pneumonia.

Facts:

About SAANS campaign:

• SAANS stands for Social Awareness and Action to Neutralise Pneumonia Successfully.
• The campaign aims to create mass awareness about the most effective solutions for pneumonia prevention like breastfeeding, age appropriate complementary feeding, immunization and good quality air.

Objectives of SAANS:

• To reduce child mortality due to pneumonia
• To mobilise people to protect children from pneumonia
• To train health personnel and other stakeholders to provide prioritised treatment to control the disease.

Mandate of campaign:Under the campaign, a child suffering from pneumonia can be treated with:

• Pre-referral dose of antibiotic amoxicillin by Accredited Social Health Activist(ASHA) workers
• Health and wellness centres will use Pulse Oximeter (a device to monitor oxygen saturation) to identify low oxygen levels in the blood of a child, and if required,treat him by the use of oxygen cylinders.

Additional information:

About Pneumonia:

• Pneumonia is an infection that inflames the air sacs in one or both lungs. The air sacs may be filled with fluid or pus causing cough with phlegm or pus, fever, chills, and difficulty breathing. 
• A variety of organisms including bacteria, viruses and fungi can cause pneumonia.
• The World Health Organisation (WHO) identifies pneumonia is the single largest cause of death in children worldwide.
• As per Health Management Information System (HMIS) data,a digital initiative by National Health Mission- Under-five mortality rate in India is 37 per 1000 live births of which 5.3 deaths are caused due to pneumonia. 
• Hence,the government aims to achieve a target of reducing pneumonia deaths among children to less than three per 1,000 live births by 2025.
• In 2014,Government of India had also launched ‘Integrated Action Plan for Prevention and Control of Pneumonia and Diarrhoea(IAPPD)’ to undertake collaborative efforts towards prevention of diarrhoea and Pneumonia related under-five deaths.