Amritsar: The district Health Department launched a programme to create awareness regarding childhood pneumonia under the Social Awareness and Actions to Neutralise Pneumonia Successfully (SAANS) project of the Health Department here on Wednesday. Speaking on the occasion, Civil Surgeon Dr Charanjit Singh said pneumonia was a major cause of death in children aged below five years of age. He said awareness about symptoms and other aspects of the disease would help in early detection of the disease which would help in saving many lives. He said workshops would be organised to train community health officers, staff nurses, paramedics and ASHA workers which would help them detect children with symptoms of pneumonia before their condition worsens. Dr Ashwani Sarin said common symptoms of pneumonia include cough and cold, rapid breathing, chest pain while breathing and high fever. Apart from this, in severe symptoms, a child cannot eat and drink, feels tremors and becomes lethargic, he said. District Immunisation Officer Dr Kanwaljit Singh said it is very important to keep a child warm and get him/her vaccinated.
