On the ‘Road to Relief’ for two million children
SYDNEY, 29 April 2010 – UNICEF Australia is thrilled to be the beneficiary of the Vicks Road to Relief campaign, a new initiative, which will see funds from the sale of Vicks products this winter contribute to UNICEF immunisation programs.
Bangladesh is one of the countries that will benefit. It is one of the most densely populated countries in the world and each year around 50,000 Bangladeshi children die before they reach their fifth birthday. Yet now the country has embarked on a mass immunisation program to slash the number of child deaths each year – a program winning worldwide plaudit.
Overall the Road to Relief campaign aims to generate funding for up to two million vaccinations against measles.
“Measles is a major cause of pneumonia. Pneumonia is known as the ‘forgotten killer’, it claims the lives of millions of children and yet often receives little attention,” UNICEF Australia spokesperson, Martin Thomas, said.
Actress Georgie Parker, the Vicks Road to Relief Ambassador, in February visited Bangladesh where pneumonia accounts for 24 per cent of under five child deaths. Ms Parker saw first hand how this immunisation campaign is impacting the lives of mothers and children.
“I was shocked to learn that pneumonia was having such a huge effect on the lives of so many children in the developing world. As a mother myself it was not an illness I ever associated with children,” she said.
“Visiting Bangladesh was an amazing and humbling experience. The delivery of the immunisations is a huge undertaking and seeing what the dedicated UNICEF team is able to accomplish, with the most basic provisions was both remarkable and inspiring.”
Georgie said the beauty of the ‘buy one pack, immunise one child’ approach is that by purchasing a product that will help them take care of their own family, Australians can also dramatically help a less fortunate family somewhere else in world.
The significance of the Road to Relief campaign falls in line with the Millennium Development Goal to reduce by two-thirds the mortality rate of children under five.
About UNICEF
UNICEF is on the ground in over 150 countries and territories to help children survive and thrive, from early childhood through adolescence. The world’s largest provider of vaccines for developing countries, UNICEF supports child health and nutrition, good water and sanitation, quality basic education for all boys and girls, and the protection of children from violence, exploitation, and AIDS. UNICEF is funded by the voluntary contributions of individuals, businesses, foundations and governments.
For more information, please contact:
Martin Thomas, UNICEF Australia
0401 332 399
mthomas@unicef.org.au
Martha Tattersall, UNICEF Australia
0421 570 393
mtattersall@unicef.org.au