In 2008, the last year for which full data is available, more than 54,000 Ghanian children died before they had reached their fifth birthday.

Public health officials say 20 percent of those deaths were from pneumonia and diarrhoea.

So this year, starting this week, Ghana will vaccinate the first babies in a new campaign against rotavirus - a cause of severe diarrhoea - and pneumococcal disease, which causes pneumonia, meningitis and sepsis.

The vaccines - oral rotavirus shots made by GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), and Merck, and pneumococcal shots made by GSK and Pfizer, are in large part funded by the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunisation (GAVI), a donor-backed group that funds bulk-buy vaccination programmes for poorer nations that cannot afford to pay developed-economy prices. – Photos and text by Reuters.