BOSTON, MA, Sept. 25, 2008 -- Global Action and the Hernreich Family Foundation were announced today as partners in the Clinton Global Initiative's (CGI) Water and Sanitation Mega-Commitment at that group's 2008 Annual Meeting in New York City. Global Action and the Hernreich Family Foundation pledged their commitment to making safe drinking water accessible to people living in rural Tanzania.
"Our Commitment to Action will reach 25,000 children in Tanzania where chronic malnutrition, iron anemia and lack of access to safe drinking water lead to thousands of unnecessary deaths each year," said Michelle Lyden, Chief Executive Officer of Global Action. "We will do so by bringing innovative technologies directly to households in order to immediately impact the lives of children."
Global Action and the Hernreich Family Foundation are partners with the H.J. Heinz Company and Procter & Gamble to implement in-home use of micronutrient fortification and water purifiers developed by these companies. Global Action and Hernreich Family Foundation will distribute Sprinkles®, a powder containing a blend of vitamins and minerals added to home prepared meals and PUR®, a water purifier that removes parasites, bacteria and viruses from contaminated water.
"In addition to distributing PUR® in-home water treatment systems and Sprinkles®, we will conduct aggressive community education to raise awareness of the linkage between nutritional deficiencies and unsafe drinking water," said Bob Hernreich, Founder and Chairman of the Hernreich Family Foundation. "Community workers will be trained to distribute micronutrient supplements and water purifiers as well as provide information on nutrition and good hygiene and sanitation practices to mothers and caregivers."
Global Action and the Hernreich Family Foundation will track the performance of their efforts by analyzing hemoglobin levels and testing for parasites in participants prior to implementing their plan and then comparing the results in the same sample four months after the initiation of the plan. Other factors that will be tracked through household questionnaires are product acceptability, compliance and the presence of clinical symptoms.
"We know that our efforts will make a difference and provide an opportunity for these children to get a healthy start," added Hernreich.
Global Action is a Boston-based nonprofit organization with the goal of driving sustainable solutions to end malnutrition.
The Hernreich Family Foundation, founded by Robert Hernreich in 1994, is a philanthropic 501(C) 3 non-profit organization that supports primarily local, but also national and global charitable causes.
Established in 2005 as a project of the non-partisan William J. Clinton Foundation, the Clinton Global Initiative (CGI) convenes global leaders to devise and implement innovative solutions to some of the world's most pressing challenges.
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