Ezekiel J. Emanuel, M.D., Ph.D.: How We Can Save Over 4 Million Children
1. For pneumonia, which is currently the number-one killer in developing countries, killing over 2 million children each year: immunizing children could save up to 800,000 lives.
2. For the diarrheal diseases that kill about 1.8 million people every year, we have a new rotavirus vaccine that could protect as many as/more than 300,000.
3. A meningitis A vaccine is about ready to be rolled out to developing countries. Meningitis A has reached epidemic proportions, from Ethiopia in Africa’s East to Senegal in the West. Meningitis epidemics are devastating to a country - not only from a health perspective but economically as well. Many die, but most people infected end up permanently disabled, mentally challenged, deaf, or blind. The new Meningitis A vaccine costs just 40 cents per patient, and protects for a decade. We could effectively eliminate Meningitis A epidemics in Africa with this vaccine.
