World Pneumonia Day was established and first observed in 2009 by the Stop Pneumonia Initiative. To raise global awareness about the disease and generate action to combat pneumonia, World Pneumonia Day is observed annually on November 12.

Pneumonia, the single largest infectious cause of death in children worldwide, killed 740,180 children under the age of 5 in 2019, accounting for 14% of all deaths of children under five years old but 22% of all deaths in children aged 1 to 5. And deaths are highest in South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa.