Dr. Wahyuni Indawati, Sp.A, Subsp. Respi, a pediatrician and sub-consultant in respirology at the Faculty of Medicine, University of Indonesia (UI) at Cipto Mangunkusumo Hospital, said comprehensive protection efforts are needed from start to finish to prevent children from developing pneumonia.
"How do we do that? By providing a healthy environment, a good environment starting from an early age, by providing exclusive breastfeeding to babies, providing good nutrition to prevent premature births, and by reducing both domestic and outdoor air pollution , " Wahyuni said at the World Pneumonia Day 2025 Media Session in Jakarta on Monday.
Pneumonia or lung inflammation is a disease caused by streptococcus pneumoniae infection, which damages lung tissue, making it difficult for oxygen to enter and can cause death.
There are 725,000 cases worldwide of children dying from pneumonia, and Indonesia is ranked 7th out of 15 countries as the country that contributes the most deaths due to pneumonia in children.
Wahyuni said that preventing pneumonia by increasing exclusive breastfeeding for six months in newborns has the ability to reduce the occurrence of pneumonia by around 20 percent.
Parents also need to supplement their children's nutrition from pregnancy through their growth period to prevent malnutrition, which contributes to pneumonia in Indonesian children by around 63 percent, as well as avoiding domestic pollution which contributes to the incidence of 17 percent, and avoiding children as second-hand smokers .
In addition, more specific efforts to prevent pneumonia are vaccinations according to the types of bacteria and viruses that cause pneumonia, such as streptococcus pneumoniae, pneumococcus influenza and other diseases whose complications cause pneumonia, such as measles, pertussis and others.