New York City Joins Local Coalitions Across America on Campaign to Improve Child Health and Survival Worldwide

New York City Joins Local Coalitions Across America on Campaign to Improve Child Health and Survival Worldwide

NEW YORK, Oct. 26 /PRNewswire/ -- A coalition of local media, health organizations, universities, and faith-based institutions in New York City 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, WNET has partnered with CARE, United Nations, Amnesty International, NY State Department of Health, and Concern Worldwide USA 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 Columbia and New York University, SUNY at Binghamton, Campus Crusade For Christ, and the Taize Ecumenical Community.

Among other events, the Global Health Council is hosting an Interfaith Gathering for the Rx for Child Survival campaign on November 2nd at the Good Shepherd-Faith Church on 152 66th St., 7-9pm. Speakers will include Dr. Robert Edgar from the National Council of Churches, Rev. Evatt Mugarura from the Balm in Gilead, Rev. Chery Perch from the Rutgers Presbyterian Church, Rev. Welton Gaddy from the Interfaith Alliance and Imam Al-haaj Ghazi Y. Khankan from the Council on American Islamic Relations/New York. The event is open to all religious groups and will feature reflections from different faith traditions on child survival and prayers for children.

"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 Guthrie 212.560.6612 guthrie@thirteen.org

Global Health Council Contact: Mariah Richardson-Osgood 202.833.5900 x3213 mrichardson-osgood@globalhealth.org

Source: Global Health Council

CONTACT: Local Coalition, Susan Guthrie, +1-212-560-6612, guthrie@thirteen.org; Mariah Richardson-Osgood of Global Health Council, +1-202-833-5900 x3213, 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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