Population Milestone Highlights Need for Access to Vaccines

With the world preparing to mark the birth of the 7 billionth child, Peg Willingham, Executive Director of Shot@Life, the UN Foundation campaign that connects and empowers Americans to champion vaccines as one of the most cost-effective ways to save the lives of children in developing countries, issued the following statement.

“As the world reaches its 7 billionth child, the need for access to vaccines has never been more pressing. Vaccines help children survive. When parents know that their children will survive, they are more inclined to have fewer children and hence keep population sustainable.”

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About Shot@Life
Shot@Life educates, connects and empowers Americans to champion vaccines as one of the most cost-effective ways to save the lives of children in developing countries.  A national call to action for this global cause, the campaign rallies the American public, members of Congress, and civil society partners around the fact that together, we can save a child’s life every 20 seconds by expanding access to vaccines.  By encouraging Americans to learn about, advocate for, and donate vaccines, the United Nations Foundation’s Shot@Life campaign will decrease vaccine-preventable childhood deaths and give children a shot at a healthy life.  To learn more, go to ShotAtLife.org.

About the United Nations Foundation 
The United Nations Foundation, a public charity, was created in 1998 with entrepreneur and philanthropist Ted Turner’s historic $1 billion gift to support UN causes and activities.  We build and implement public/private partnerships to address the world’s most pressing problems, and work to broaden support for the UN through advocacy and public outreach.  Through our campaigns and partnerships, we connect people, ideas, and resources to help the UN solve global problems.  These campaigns focus on reducing child mortality, empowering women and girls, creating a new energy future, securing peace and human rights, and promoting technology innovation to improve health outcomes.  These solutions are helping the UN advance the eight global targets known as the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).  For more information, visit www.unfoundation.org.