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| © UNICEF/06-0093/Noorani | |
| BANGLADESH: A boy presses a cotton swab to his arm after receiving a measles vaccination at a site for vulnerable children, including those who live or work on the streets, in the southern port city of Chittagong. |
For the final 12 days of 2008, UNICEF celebrity Ambassadors and supporters are posting daily blog entries about the impact UNICEF Inspired Gifts are having on children around the world. Al Roker is a UNICEF supporter who is currently appearing in the U.S. Fund's "I Believe In Zero" campaign.
Thanks to lifesaving vaccines, measles is mostly history in our country. But in working with UNICEF, I was shocked to learn that this terrible disease still affects hundreds of thousands of children every year. In fact, it steals the future of 540 children around the world every day.
UNICEF and partnering organizations have been able to decrease death from measles by 74 percent globally over just the last few years. Now, while that gives me one more thing to celebrate this holiday season, I’ve made a pact with UNICEF for the New Year. I’m resolving to do everything I can to bring the number of children that die every day from totally preventable causes, like measles, down to ZERO.
Not one child should die needlessly, and UNICEF is giving us a chance to help those remaining few whose lives could be saved with simple vaccines. For just $26.30, you can give the gift of health to children in need, providing 100 doses of anti-measles vaccination. This year, let’s celebrate the New Year together by resolving to make measles a thing of the past!
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I am Al Roker and I believe in zero.
25,000 young children die every day from preventable causes—things like malnutrition, poor sanitation and lack of safe, drinkable water. UNICEF believes that number should be zero.
