about Mission: Pneumonia

missionpneumonia.org is a new project we launched this week with New Media Strategies for Save the Children. Monday November 2nd was World Pneumonia Day.

We have helped concept, design and develop Mission: Pneumonia (huge thanks to the JESS3 team, including my go-to guys Shawn, Travis and Jim) that includes 7 levels and dozens of questions, success stories and opportunities to take action against pneumonia worldwide (including donating to help the effort, as well as petitioning Congress). We made sure that the game was connected to Twitter, as well as Facebook, so there are maximum sharing opportunities. Additionally, the game was developed with a playful element to it, while still respecting the gravity and serious nature of the issue.

In working on this project, I have learned an amazing amount about pneumonia, including the fact that pneumonia is the leading cause of child deaths worldwide; a figure that can be understood by this illustration:

IMAGINE A JUMBO JET FULL OF CHILDREN CRASHING EVERY 2 HOURS, EVERY DAY, EVERY WEEK, EVERY YEAR… and that is how many children die from pneumonia each year. So what should you know? What can you do?

From Save the Children, they share:

Things you need to know
1. Pneumonia kills more children under five years of age worldwide than any other illness (more than 2 million deaths per year)
2. More than 155 million episodes of pneumonia occur every year in children under five years of age worldwide placing a huge burden on families and the health system.
3. Pneumonia prevention and control is a priority and is essential in achieving the fourth MDG.
4. Pneumonia can be prevented by immunization, improvement of nutrition, control of indoor air pollution and prevention of HIV infection
5. Pneumonia can be diagnosed clinically using simple signs like fast breathing and lower chest indrawing.
6. Simple antibiotics can treat pneumonia.
7. Three essential steps can reduce death from pneumonia, recognize a child is sick, seek appropriate care and treat with appropriate antibiotics.

Things you need to do
1. Ensure all children are immunized against measles, whooping cough, heamophilus and pneumococcus.
2. Ensure all children diagnosed with pneumonia are treated promptly with effective antibiotics
3. Ensure trained health workers can diagnose and treat pneumonia with antibiotics in the community.
4. Implement appropriate case management at health facility level for severe pneumonia.
5. Promote exclusive breast feeding.
6. Prevent mother to child transmission of HIV and implement pneumonia prophylaxis in high HIV prevalent areas.
7. Promote strategies to reduce indoor air pollution.
8. Promote Zinc supplementation