Abstract:

Childhood pneumonia remains a leading killer of children in developing countries where it accounts for up to 21% of deaths in children under the age of five years [1]. The mortality rates of children under the age of five years in most developing countries ranges from 60 to 100 per 1000 live births, one fifth of these deaths are due to pneumonia [2]. An estimated 1.9 million children die from pneumonia yearly [1, 3]. Half the world’s deaths due to pneumonia in children under the age of five years occur in Africa [4]. In sub-Saharan Africa, the estimated proportion of death in children aged below 5 years attributed to pneumonia is 17-26% [5].

In Tanzania pneumonia is a one of the major contributors towards under-fives mortality and is accounted for 21.2% of under five deaths in 2006 [6]. At Sekou Toure regional hospital to 403 children’s admitted for tropical diseases, 17.9% percent were diagnosed to have pneumonia while 82.1% with other tropical illnesses.

The average years of children’s mostly diagnosed to have pneumonia ranges between 0-3 years but not so prevent at 4-5 years children’s, and substantial evidences revealed that the leading risks factors contributes to pneumonia to under-fives were poverty, under nutrition, delay seeking appropriate medical treatment, cultural beliefs medicines.