Financial Times: Letter to the editor: Pneumonia is the single biggest killer of children in world’s poorest countries
Kevin Watkins, CEO at Save The Children U.K., and colleagues

“…Despite the relentless tide of fatalities, most governments are failing to prioritize pneumonia prevention and treatment. … [Governments] need not just to increase investment in under-financed health systems, but also increase the efficiency and equity of that investment. … Aid donors and pharmaceutical companies have a role to play. Development agencies should be attaching as much weight to pneumonia as they are to other killers, like malaria. That means supporting the development of national action plans to combat the disease, while building more effective public-private partnerships. Far more could be done through Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, to lower the price and extend the reach of vaccines. We also believe aid donors and companies could be doing more to ensure that advances in diagnostic technologies and treatments reach the most disadvantaged children. Three years ago governments gathered with great ceremony to agree a set of 2030 development goals, including an end to preventable child deaths. They promised a focus on the most disadvantaged children. The ambition behind these pledges is laudable. But actions on pneumonia will speak louder than words” (2/6).