Boston and Springfield Join Local Coalitions Across America on Campaign to Improve Child Health and Survival Worldwide

Boston and Springfield Join Local Coalitions Across America on Campaign to Improve Child Health and Survival Worldwide

BOSTON and SPRINGFIELD, Mass., Oct. 26 /PRNewswire/ -- A coalition of local media, health organizations, universities, and faith-based institutions in Boston and Springfield have joined with 30 other communities across the country in an effort to increase awareness of the 11 million children who die each year worldwide (pbs.org/rxforsurvival/campaign).

As part of WGBH/Boston and Vulcan Productions' Rx for Child Survival(TM), a nationwide mobilization campaign created by WGBH/PBS Boston and Vulcan Productions, WGBH and Springfield's WGBY have partnered with the U.S. Fund for UNICEF, UNA of Greater Boston, AAP, John Snow, Inc. and the Massachusetts Department of Public Health to form this unprecedented coalition. Working with the Global Health Council, universities and faith-based organizations are also participating in the global child health and survival effort, including Boston University School of Public Health, University of Massachusetts School of Public Health, Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Boston, Massachusetts Council of Churches, The Black Ministerial Alliance of Greater Boston, Inc., and the Islamic Society of Boston.

The coalitions are working in their communities to increase awareness about global health, encourage donations to child health programs, and advocate for increased government funding for global child health and survival. Among other events, the Massachusetts Medical Society is hosting a Global Child Survival Symposium on October 27, featuring speakers from Save the Children, Harvard School of Public Health, and Massachusetts Medical Society. And WGBY is sponsoring interfaith community luncheon about global health on October 27 at the University of Massachusetts.

"We are building a grassroots movement to educate the public about the preventable deaths of millions of children across the world," states Deryck Spooner, national campaigns manager at the Global Health Council. The Council is also calling on the U.S. government to nearly double funding for global child health in the coming fiscal year.

The Rx for Child Survival campaign was created by WGBH and Vulcan Productions to coincide with their far-reaching multimedia project Rx for Survival -- A Global Health Challenge(TM) anchored by a six-part television series airing November 1-3, 2005 on PBS stations across the country. Major funding for the project was provided by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and The Merck Company Foundation.

CONTACT: Stefanie Koperniak of WGBH, +1-617-300-5317, stefanie_koperniak@wgbh.org; Laurie Leichthammer of WGBY, +1-413-781-2801 x286, lleichthammer@wgby.org; or Mariah Richardson-Osgood of Global Health Council, +1-202-833-5900 x3213, mrichardson-osgood@globalhealth.org

Source: Global Health Council

CONTACT: Stefanie Koperniak of WGBH, +1-617-300-5317, stefanie_koperniak@wgbh.org; Laurie Leichthammer of WGBY, +1-413-781-2801 x286, lleichthammer@wgby.org; or Mariah Richardson-Osgood of Global Health Council, +1-202-833-5900 x3213, mrichardson-osgood@globalhealth.org

Web site: http://www.pbs.org/rxforsurvival/campaign http://www.globalhealth.org/ http://www.wgbh.org/ http://www.pbs.org/ http://www.vulcanproductions.com/

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