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PACE - Pneumococcal Awareness
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Global Call to Action

On Pneumococcal Disease Prevention

Pneumococcal disease takes the lives of 1.6 million people each year – including 800,000 children under age five.  This leading cause of vaccine-preventable death is preventable – and vaccines are available now to safely and effectively protect children and adults against most pneumococcal infections.  With increased awareness and a resulting commitment to purchase and deliver pneumococcal vaccines to the world’s children, an estimated 5.4 million children’s lives can be saved by 2030. 

This is why we urge professional medical societies to join dozens of organizations across the globe and sign on as a PACE partner to the Global Call to Action in support of a coordinated effort to fight pneumococcal disease. In turn, each professional society that signs on will be featured on the PACE Web site and your support will be highlighted in key PACE promotional materials and outreach efforts.

 

GLOBAL CALL TO ACTION
ON PNEUMOCOCCAL DISEASE PREVENTION

Pneumococcal disease is the most common vaccine-preventable cause of death worldwide. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), this disease kills 1.6 million people — including more than 800,000 children under age five — each year. Despite its enormous impact, awareness of pneumococcal disease and its burden remains low.

Safe, effective vaccines are available to prevent this disease. The need for widespread use of pneumococcal vaccines has never been greater. Antibiotic resistance and HIV infection are making pneumococcal infections harder to treat and more common. Taking action now will save millions of lives.

As professional societies and organizations dedicated to improving the health and well-being of children and families worldwide, we support the application of proven, effective health interventions to combat infectious disease. We recognize the need to increase awareness of the social and economic burden of pneumococcal disease, and the need for coordinated global action toward its prevention. And we support the recent recommendation of the WHO for inclusion of pneumococcal vaccines in routine immunization programs based on their proven efficacy for prevention.

Together, we issue a call to action to prevent pneumococcal disease:

·    We call upon governments and their leaders, international institutions and officials in philanthropy to make financing available to assure access to pneumococcal vaccines for every person worldwide who needs them. These institutions should also support the expansion of health systems to deliver the vaccines, and surveillance systems to monitor their impact.

·    We call upon leaders in health, science and related fields to raise awareness of the burden of pneumococcal disease and the opportunities for its prevention, and to continue research into its prevention.

·    We call upon vaccine manufacturers to continue developing effective vaccines and to invest in capacity to meet increasing global demand for pneumococcal vaccines.

·    We call upon all parties to work together in a coordinated fashion to make sure that vaccines are available at affordable, sustainable prices and with credible long-term financing to support their procurement.


To download a PDF version of the Global Call to Action, click here.