Lexington & Louisville Join Local Coalitions Across America on Campaign to Improve Child Health and Survival Worldwide

Lexington & Louisville Join Local Coalitions Across America on Campaign to Improve Child Health and Survival Worldwide

LEXINGTON and LOUISVILLE, Ky., Oct. 26 /PRNewswire/ -- Coalitions of local media, health organizations, universities, and faith-based institutions in Lexington and Louisville 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, KET is working with the Girl Scouts Wilderness Road Council, Inc., YMCA of Central Kentucky, God's Pantry Food Bank, Center for Women, Children & Families and Prichard Committee for Academic Excellence to form this unprecedented coalition. Working with the Global Health Council, universities and faith-based organizations also participating in the global child health and survival effort include the University of Louisville and the Presbyterian Church, USA.

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. For example, the Girl Scouts are going to tie their International Thinking Day in with the Rx for Child Survival campaign by making 1,110 medical kits for Medical Bridges to dispersed to people in developing countries. This work complements the efforts of Senator Mitch McConnell, chairman of the Foreign Operations Appropriations Subcommittee. Over the years, Senator McConnell has supported efforts to engage global health and development assistance to those in the developing world.

"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.

LOCAL COALITION CONTACT: Susan Miller 859-293-2621 gswrc@gswrc.org

GLOBAL HEALTH COUNCIL CONTACT: Mariah Richardson-Osgood 202.833.5900 x3213 mrichardson-osgood@globalhealth.org www.globalhealth.org

Source: Global Health Council

CONTACT: Local Coalition, Susan Miller, +1-859-293-2621, or gswrc@gswrc.org; or Mariah Richardson-Osgood of Global Health Council, +1-202-833-5900 x3213, or mrichardson-osgood@globalhealth.org

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

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