Chattanooga and Nashville Join Local Coalitions Across America on Campaign to Improve Child Health and Survival Worldwide

Chattanooga and Nashville Join Local Coalitions Across America on Campaign to Improve Child Health and Survival Worldwide

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. and NASHVILLE, Tenn., Oct. 26 /PRNewswire/ -- Coalitions of local media, health organizations, universities, and faith-based institutions in Chattanooga and Nashville 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, Chattanooga's WTCI has partnered with Rotary and Nashville's WNPT has partnered with the Mayors Department of Nashville and Vanderbilt University to form these unprecedented coalitions. Working with the Global Health Council, universities and faith-based organizations also participating in the global child health and survival effort include Vanderbilt University, the Episcopal Diocese of Tennessee, St Mark Baptist Church, Saint Patrick Catholic Church, Trinity Presbyterian Church, and Cathedral of the Incarnation.

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. WTCI is hosting a candlelight vigil on October 27 to pay homage to children across the world that have lost their lives at a young age. WNPT is hosting a forum on March 30th, 2006 that will bring together leaders from all areas of the community, including interdisciplinary groups, media, entertainment, the Mayor's office, local medical universities, and local Catholic churches. These local efforts complement the efforts of Senator Bill Frist, who has worked to increase support and assistance for global health and development programs in the US Senate.

"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.

http://www.pbs.org/rxforsurvival/campaignhttp://www.globalhealth.org/http://www.pbs.org/http://www.vulcanproductions.com/

CONTACT: Mariah Richardson-Osgood of Global Health Council, +1-202-833-5900, x3213, or mrichardson-osgood@globalhealth.org, http://www.globalhealth.org/, or Local Coalitions: Kevin Lusk of WTCI - Chattanooga, +1-423-629-0045, kevin_lusk@wtci.pbs.org, http://www.wtci-tv45.com/, or Nancy Nikolai of WNPT - Nashville, +1-615-259-9325, x241, nnikolai@wnpt.org, http://www.wnpt.net/.

Source: Global Health Council

CONTACT: Mariah Richardson-Osgood of Global Health Council, +1-202-833-5900, x3213, or mrichardson-osgood@globalhealth.org, or Local Coalitions: Kevin Lusk of WTCI - Chattanooga, +1-423-629-0045, kevin_lusk@wtci.pbs.org, or Nancy Nikolai of WNPT - Nashville, +1-615-259-9325, x241, nnikolai@wnpt.org

Web site: http://www.globalhealth.org/ http://www.wtci-tv45.com/ http://www.wnpt.net/ http://www.pbs.org/rxforsurvival/campaign http://www.wtci-tv45.com/

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