Gates Foundation's programs complement new global plan to prevent 2M child deaths

John Grove, a senior program officer at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and Gretchen Meller, a program officer at the foundation, write in the group's "Impatient Optimists" blog, "By addressing [pneumonia and diarrhea] together, the [Integrated Global Action Plan for the Prevention and Control of Pneumonia and Diarrhea (GAPPD)] goes to the heart of the matter: both diseases are caused by a range of pathogens, and no single intervention alone will eliminate either disease. But, by addressing the complexity of common causes and risk factors, and implementing common prevention strategies and interventions and similar delivery platforms in clinics, communities and schools, prevention and treatment can become stronger tools by actually getting into the hands of the caregivers." They provide information on the diseases' impacts on childhood morbidity and mortality. "The foundation's pneumonia and enteric and diarrheal diseases strategies share similar goals -- to accelerate the reduction in global burden of these largely preventable pathogen-caused illnesses," they note (4/12).