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Mercy Ahun
Managing Director, Programme Delivery, GAVI Alliance
Wednesday
6 July
2011
Immunising children against polio in remote Ghanaian villages a decade or so ago, I came across a case of pneumonia that has haunted me to this day.
After riding pillion on a motorbike for hours through cornfields, we arrived in a small hamlet of three mud huts. The men were eating lunch and the women were on the periphery, attending to their ‘household chores’. We extended traditional greetings and asked to see any children under the age of five.
From the corner of my eye, I noticed a young child, about 18 months old, lying on a mat and I took a closer look. She was an ill looking toddler with fast and shallow breaths. I touched her. She was feverish. I did not need my stethoscope to diagnose pneumonia.
We did not have antibiotics with us, the only effective treatment. So I told the father he must take her to the nearest clinic.
You must not be serious, his body language said. He could only get to the nearest clinic, more than 20 miles away by borrowing a neighbour’s tractor. But he would still have to find fuel and his daughter would be dead on arrival.
He turned away, pain in his eyes. This was clearly not the first time he had faced a similar situation. I stood there riveted. How could I leave this child to die?
A couple of decades later, I still wonder what happened to this child. My mind refuses to accept the obvious. But this is my motivation for working at the GAVI Alliance.
GAVI now supports developing countries to introduce the pneumococcal vaccine that protects against pneumonia, the biggest killer of children. With sufficient donor support, this vaccine could save 7 million lives by 2030.
And then maybe, I’ll never see such a tragic scene again.
This blog post is also featured on the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation website.