Save the Children has announced their No Child Born to Die campaign today, calling for an end to the millions of preventable child deaths each year
Save the Children launches their 2011 campaign campaign today, supported by a host of celebrity ambassadors including Alexandra Burke, Edith Bowman, Natasha Kaplinsky, Amanda Mealing and Prue Leith.
The campaign, No Child Born to Die, was launched as the charity condemned the funding crisis facing a key global immunization programme, maintaining that without funds new life-saving vaccines for pneumonia and diarrhea could not be made available, costing up to a million children’s lives each year.
‘It is shocking in this day and age that 4,000 children a day are dying of something as simple as diarrhea or pneumonia: what a senseless waste of young lives,’ says Justin Forsyth, chief executive of Save the Children. ‘No Child Born to Die is all about getting the British public mobilized to put a stop to this scandal.’
X-Factor singer Alexandra Burke, urged people to dig deep and lend Save the Children’s campaign their support. ‘I held a tiny malnourished baby boy in my hands in Haiti last year,' she says. 'It was obvious he wouldn’t survive in those conditions without this charity’s help.’
Many other big names, including Simon Cowell, Dervla Kirwan and Brenda Blethyn recorded special messages of support for the campaign revealing what they were ‘born to do’.
Simon Cowell joked he was ‘born to be a pain in the arse’ and said he was supporting the campaign off the back of shocking statistics that claim 8million children die of preventable causes each year.
David Beckham, Nelson Mandela, Usain Bolt and Darcy Bussell have also shown their support by featuring in a TV advert, filmed in Tanzania with youngsters who are benefiting from Save the Children’s work, which premiers tonight.
'We need funds to help deliver more vaccines to children, to train more inspirational mums as community health champions, and to ensure that women and babies are supported at birth by properly trained midwife,' says Justin Forsyth.
‘We also want the public to keep up the pressure on our leaders so that we mobilize the political support we need globally to end this scandal. Every child should be given a chance to live their dreams.’
For more information on the campaign and how to show your support, visit www.savethechildren.org.uk