Washington, D.C. March 5, 2015 – The United Nations Foundation’s Shot@Life Campaign, which helps expand access to life-saving childhood vaccines globally, has partnered with the Astellas USA Foundation, a non-profit corporation, to help support the delivery of measles vaccines to children in Latin America, many living in hard-to-reach locations. The Astellas USA Foundation will provide a monetary donation to advance this mission.

“The Astellas USA Foundation’s vision is to promote patient well-being and education, which includes a focus on supporting the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals aimed at achieving healthy lives for all. There is clearly a growing need for measles vaccines in Latin America and the Foundation’s donation will support the United Nations Foundation’s initiative to immunize over a hundred thousand children in need in the region,” said Jeff Winton, President of the Astellas USA Foundation.

In 2013, more than 140,000 children died from measles globally - 16 children every hour. Measles is one of the most contagious diseases and children living in poverty are especially susceptible to death and disability as a result of contracting the disease. The measles vaccine has been very successful in reducing childhood mortality in the last decade, with a reported 75% worldwide drop in measles deaths between 2000 and 2013. [1]

“We are proud to partner with the Astellas USA Foundation to help with our initiatives to reach children living in Latin America,” said Devi Thomas, Director, the Shot@Life campaign. “The partnership will further our work to support measles vaccinations, strong systems to track the disease, and the ability to quickly respond to outbreaks to curtail the spread of measles.”

About the Astellas USA Foundation

The Astellas USA Foundation is a tax-exempt, non-profit corporation that awards grants to support charitable, scientific, literary and educational purposes. To learn more about Astellas USA Foundation please visit www.astellasusafoundation.org.

About Shot@Life

Shot@Life supports the work of the United Nations and the Pan American Health Organization to ensure children in Latin America are protected from vaccine preventable diseases. Shot@Life, a campaign of the United Nations Foundation, educates, connects and empowers Americans to help protect children in developing countries from vaccine-preventable diseases. By joining this movement, you can help save a child’s life every 20 seconds by learning about, advocating for and donating vaccines to children who need them most. Go to ShotAtLife.org to learn more.

About the United Nations Foundation

The United Nations Foundation, a public charity, was created in 1998 with entrepreneur and philanthropist Ted Turner’s historic $1 billion gift to support UN causes and activities. The UN Foundation builds and implements public/private partnerships to address the world’s most pressing problems, and works to broaden support for the UN through advocacy and public outreach. Through campaigns and partnerships, the organization connects people, ideas, and resources to help the UN solve global problems. The campaigns reduce child mortality, empower women and girls, create a new energy future, secure peace and human rights, and promote technology innovation to improve health outcomes. These solutions are helping the UN advance the eight global targets known as the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). For more information, visit www.unfoundation.org.

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