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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
December 2, 2002
Healthy Russia 2020 Project Awarded to Consortium Led by
Johns Hopkins Center for Communication Programs
Federal Grant of $25 Million Aims to Promote Healthier Russian Lifestyle BALTIMORE—The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) in Russia has awarded a group led by Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health Center for Communication Programs (CCP) a $25-million grant to help improve the health of Russians, a population with a sobering health burden that includes high rates of tuberculosis and a growing HIV/AIDS epidemic.
USAID wants CCP and its partners to help Russian institutions use communication programs to promote a healthier lifestyle for young Russians, reduce HIV/AIDS and sexually transmitted infections, control the spread of tuberculosis, and improve the health of women and infants. The Moscow-based project, Healthy Russia 2020, will create a membership organization of health stakeholders to advance USAID's goal of fostering a health competent society.
CCP will team with its partners—the Futures Group International and Analytical Sciences Inc.—along with a diverse group of collaborators over the next five years to promote Healthy Russia 2020. Among those collaborators are Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu, Project HOPE, IREX, the Center for Association Leadership, the American Red Cross, the Public Health Foundation, and the National Association of Chain Drug Stores.
“Healthy Russia will assist Russian organizations reach young people and other key groups through strategic communication with positive health messages,” said Carol Peasley, Director of USAID/Russia. “We believe the CCP team and its Russian partners will save lives and improve the health of thousands of Russian families.”
In addition to the new Russian NGO, the CCP team will create a Healthy Russia 2020 web portal and help develop partnerships to further the project's goals. Activities will include mobilizing support from policymakers, disseminating and advocating state-of-the-art, evidence-based medical practices among the medical and governmental establishments, and educating the public about healthy behaviors.
Mounting data show that unhealthy lifestyle choices in Russia, such as smoking and alcohol abuse, are leading to increased illness and death, while serious HIV/AIDS and TB epidemics grow. The health of women and infants is also in decline and the current Russian health system is not geared towards prevention.
With representatives in more than 30 countries, CCP, with the support of the U.S. Agency for International Development, is a pioneer in the field of strategic, research-based communication for behavior change and health promotion that helped transform the theory and practice of public health communication. The Bloomberg School of Public Health established CCP in 1988 to focus attention on the central role of communication in health behavior and to provide leadership in the field of behavior change communication.
For more information contact: Kim Martin at Johns Hopkins Center for Communication Programs, 111 Market Place, Suite 310, Baltimore, Maryland 21202, USA. Tel: 410 659-6140; Fax: 410 659-6266 e-mail: press@jhuccp.org. PRESS ROOM: http://www.jhuccp.org/pressroom
For further information, contact the Reach Out, Show Compassion Coordinator in Ghana at 233-021-773429/233-021-774097 or E-mail at ccg@africaonline.com.gh
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