摘要：Pneumonia and diarrhoea have been the leadingcauses of global child mortality for many decades [1].Their relative importance in comparison to othercauses of child deaths, such as malaria, preterm birth, birthasphyxia, accidents, neonatal infections and cancer, has becomefully appreciated in 2003 through the work of theWorld Health Organization's and UNICEF's Child HealthEpidemiology Reference Group (CHERG) [2].The “ChildSurvival” series, published by The Lancet, has been pivotalin raising awareness that the UN’s Millennium DevelopmentGoal 4 cannot be achieved without increased focus on preventingand treating childhood infections – particularlypneumonia and diarrhoea – in low– and middle–incomecountries [3].The next big step involved the “Global ActionPlan for Pneumonia” (GAPP), which summarized the evidenceon the epidemiology of acute lower respiratory infectionsin children, the key etiological agents, the main determinantsof the disease, the available and emerging solutionsand the main obstacles to their implementation [4].GAPP’slandmark publication in 2008 showed that there are about156 million new cases of pneumonia each year.
