San Diego Communities Join Local Coalitions Across America on Campaign to Improve Child Health and Survival Worldwide

San Diego Communities Join Local Coalitions Across America on Campaign to Improve Child Health and Survival Worldwide

SAN DIEGO, Nov. 1 /PRNewswire/ -- Coalitions of local media, health organizations, universities, and faith-based institutions in San Diego 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, KPBS is partnering with the American Academy of Pediatrics California, Coronado Rotary International, Project Concern International, League of Women Voters, Family Care Foundation, and LEAD San Diego to form this unprecedented coalition. Working with the Global Health Council, universities and faith-based groups participating in the coalition include San Diego State University, Council of Churches of California, Buddhist Peace Fellowship of San Diego, Ecumenical Council of San Diego County, Jewish Campus Center, San Diego Lutheran Peace Fellowship, and Interfaith Service Bureau.

As part of San Diego State University's Global Village, an annual event to promote peace and expose students and faculty to international cultures and global issues, KPBS is creating a section of the "village" specifically for the Rx for Child Survival campaign. The event takes place on November 11 and will include activities and information about global child health. Local efforts like these mirror the work of California Senators Barbara Boxer and Dianne Feinstein. Providing a voice to the needs of women and families in the U.S. Senate, they have led the way in supporting increased funding and support for global health and development programs.

"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/

LOCAL COALITIONS GLOBAL HEALTH COUNCIL
CONTACT: Amanda Jones CONTACT: Mariah Richardson-Osgood
619.594.7307 202.833.5900 x3213
ajones@kpbs.orgmrichardson-osgood@globalhealth.org

Source: Global Health Council

CONTACT: Local Coalitions, Amanda Jones, +1-619-594-7307, or
ajones@kpbs.org, or GLOBAL HEALTH COUNCIL, Mariah Richardson-Osgood,
+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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