Houston Joins Local Coalitions Across America on Campaign to Improve Child Health and Survival Worldwide

Houston Joins Local Coalitions Across America on Campaign to Improve Child Health and Survival Worldwide

HOUSTON, Nov. 1 /PRNewswire/ -- A coalition of local media, health organizations, universities, and faith-based institutions in Houston 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, KUHT has partnered with Texas Department of State Health Services, the United Nations Houston Chapter, Borders Books, Girl Scouts of San Jacinto, Rotary International, Science Cafe, and the U.S. Fund for UNICEF 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 Baylor University, St. Paul's United Methodist Church, Asian-American Church of Houston, and Westbury Baptist Church.

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. KUHT hosted a forum entitled "Feed Your Hungry Mind" on October 25 to discuss issues surrounding global health. Speakers included Chido Nwangwu, Founder of USAfrica Online, and Kristy Murray Lillibridge, Assistant Professor of Epidemiology at the Center for Infectious Diseases at the University of Texas School of Public Health.

"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, mrichardson-osgood@globalhealth.org, or Local Coalition: Karen Vines, +1-713-743-8559, kvine@houstonpbs.org

Source: Global Health Council

CONTACT: Mariah Richardson-Osgood of Global Health Council,
+1-202-833-5900, x3213, mrichardson-osgood@globalhealth.org, or Local
Coalition: Karen Vines, +1-713-743-8559, kvine@houstonpbs.org

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

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