Preventable Diseases
Ladysmith News
April 10, 2008
Recently many of us were shocked by news of the death of a young Wisconsin girl from untreated diabetes. Yet what goes unreported is the fact that 30,000 children die everyday on earth from treatable or preventable diseases including measles, malaria, mumps, malnutrition, dehydration and starvation. We citizens of Northern Wisconsin may feel helpless, but we can do a lot since Dave Obey is our Congressman. Rep. Obey chairs the House Appropriations Committee which determines how much the U.S. will spend on poverty-focused assistance next year. In 2000, every country, including the U.S., pledged to achieve the Millennium Development Goal of reducing extreme poverty and child mortality by year 2015. To fulfill our pledge requires an increase of about $1.30 per month per adult ($5 billion annually) for poverty-focused development assistance.
Are we willing to spend the equivalent cost of a large coffee each month to save millions of children from death because they live in a place that lacks clean water, medicine or mosquito netting? If willing, we need to make a two minute phone call and urge an increase in aid. A quick toll free call to 800-826-3688 will then connect us to the Capitol and ask for Dave Obey's office.
Anna Marie Eitenmiller
Ladysmith
