UN says Nigeria could lose more than a million children to pneumonia

About 1.4 million children could die from pneumonia over the next decade in Nigeria, according to the UN.

The UN's children agency Unicef has in its latest forecast said Nigeria could have the world's highest amount of deaths caused by pneumonia.

Overall, Unicef said its forecast estimates 6.3 million children could die worldwide from pneumonia.

The UN estimates India will be the second worst place for childhood pneumonia deaths and the Democratic Republic of Congo could be the third worst.

The children's agency has said that nine million children could die from pneumonia and other major diseases in the next decade if prevention is not done.

Unicef advised that pneumonia vaccination coverage be increased to prevent the deaths and tweeted that Nigeria was already doing this:

It’s time for a checkup for baby Beatrice in Nigeria.

Boosting efforts to prevent and treat pneumonia could save the lives of nearly 9 million children from this and other diseases in the next decade.#StopPneumonia #EveryChildALIVE pic.twitter.com/vy7Pnlhm5f

— UNICEF (@UNICEF) January 30, 2020