DHAKA, May 13, 2026 (BSS) – Severe and very severe pneumonia in children can be successfully managed at day-care clinics than in hospitals and also the cost of this management is also much lower, according to a study of icddr,b.

If day-care management can be expanded, child deaths from pneumonia will decrease in the country, said the study, adding that alternative management like the 'day-care model' is very effective for such children. 

“In day-care management, the need for hospitalization of children is reduced and the cost is reduced by half,” said icddr,b the study. 

Findings of the study were shared in a seminar organized in collaboration with the University of Basel in Switzerland and the University of Kentucky in the United States. 

The study was conducted on 3,049 children with severe pneumonia. 

Emeritus Scientist and Principal Investigator of the study Dr Nur Haque Alam said, “Mothers do not want to take their children to the hospital. Considering the distance of the hospital, bed shortage, family workload, transportation problems, and cost, they do not want to take their children to the hospital. But they do not hesitate to seek services near their homes.” 

The researchers arranged day-care at Union Health and Family Welfare Centers in villages and NGOs and private clinics in cities. 

The study was conducted in Dhamrai, Karimganj, Pakundia, and Kishoreganj Sadar areas. 

In addition to training doctors, nurses, and other health workers in these areas, they also provided necessary equipment and beds for pneumonia treatment. 

Those were kept open from 8 am to 5 pm. It was found that 93 percent of children in villages and 84 percent in cities received safe treatment. The cost of treatment here is half of what is spent on hospital treatment. 

Professor Tahmid Ahmed, former Senior Director of the Nutrition and Clinical Services Department of iccdr,b, said that every year thousands of children die from pneumonia in Bangladesh and around the world. The iccdr,b scientists have developed a cost-effective approach by providing alternative care in the community, he added. 

He said this innovation will reduce child deaths from pneumonia in many countries, including Bangladesh, and around the world. 

A senior official of the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) said that the government is actively considering the issue of providing integrated health services at the community level. This model, which combines oxygen therapy, fluid, nutritional management and antibiotics with hospitalization of children suffering from pneumonia, is as effective, safe and quite cost-effective as the conventional treatment system approved by the World Health Organization, he added. 

He said this method of pneumonia management based on the day-care concept has great potential in the existing health system of Bangladesh. 

According to statistics, around 12 crore children under the age of 5 are infected with pneumonia every year around the world of which, more than 10 percent (1.4 million) become severe and require hospitalization. 

In developing countries, acute lower respiratory tract infections (ALRI), especially pneumonia, are the leading cause of death in children under 5 years of age, accounting for 5 million deaths annually, or one in every 5 deaths. 

In Bangladesh, more than one child died of pneumonia every hour in 2018. That is, more than 12,000 children died in a year. 

Dr. Hamida Akhter, Adjunct Professor at Johns Hopkins University in the United States, said that it has been found that about 90 percent of children with severe pneumonia, with or without malnutrition, can be treated safely in day-care clinics. 

However, due to various steps taken by the government, many changes have taken place in the health system of Bangladesh, she added. 

Due to which the child mortality rate in the country has now decreased significantly. Where access to health services in rural areas was unimaginable a decade ago; now, health services have reached every union. 

Pediatrician Dr. Shaila Haque said, “The day-care system can be a very effective step to protect against pneumonia. However, before that, mothers need to be made aware of the dangers of this disease. This is not possible for the government alone, but the people must also be aware.”