Some statistics can break your heart.

The new Rx for Child Survival program will bring such basic care as vaccinations to children in the world's poorest countries.

The most wrenching may be the worldwide number of children under 5 who die from diseases that are treatable or preventable: almost 30,000 every day.

Most of them live in the developing world. There, illnesses that are virtually no threat in the United States -- diarrhea, pneumonia, malaria and measles -- are
major killers.

But there are also numbers that offer hope. Five simple health treatments could save the lives of 6 million children a year.

They include vaccinations, antibiotics, micronutrients like Vitamin A, oral rehydration packets to offset the impact of diarrhea, and insecticide-treated mosquito nets to prevent malaria.

What we need is a massive push to reach the world's poorest children. And that's just what a new campaign called Rx for Child Survival aims to do.

It combines opportunities for education and volunteering with the crucial job of raising money.

Donors have a choice of three levels of giving to provide the package of five health interventions in the world's poorest countries: a $250 "neighbor pack" to help several families, $100 to aid a family and $25 to help one child. The money goes to two of the most effective humanitarian organizations, CARE and Save the Children, working in association with the Global Health Council and UNICEF.

The children's health campaign, created by WGBH Educational Foundation and Vulcan Productions, is linked to a multimedia project called "Rx for Survival -- a Global Challenge."

The centerpiece is a PBS series, narrated by Brad Pitt, which will air Tuesday through Thursday (KAET-TV, Channel 8, 9-11 p.m.) The segments will examine efforts to promote health and fight disease in a world in where the threat of deadly infections is just a plane ride away. NPR and Time magazine are also highlighting the issue.

When the Rx for Child Survival campaign was planned, no one could have imagined that devastating natural disasters would strike at about the same time. Americans have poured money into helping victims of hurricanes, earthquakes and flooding, and there's a real risk of "charity fatigue."

In this case, though, generosity has a long-term payoff for the United States.

The burden of disease and death keeps impoverished nations from raising their standard of living. It fuels political instability. As countries become more and more connected, the loss of so much human potential has economic repercussions for everyone.

How to Help

For more information about Rx for Child Survival and to donate online, go to www.pbs.org/wgbh/rxforsurvival/campaign. Or call 800-242-4483. By mail, send a check made out to Rx for Child Survival, to Rx for Survival, Gift Center, P.O. Box 1870, Merrifield, VA 22116-9646.

Back for Rx for Child Survival™ Overview

™2005 WGBH Educational Foundation and Vulcan Productions, Inc. Major funding for Rx for Survival – A Global Health Challenge has been provided by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and The Merck Company Foundation.