For Immediate Release

DATE : 11/3/2009

Episcopal Relief & Development President Speaks at Pneumonia Summit

The Global Pneumonia Summit, held in New York City on Monday, officially kicked off
the first annual World Pneumonia Day. Episcopal Relief & Development President Rob
Radtke was a featured speaker at the gathering, along with Jeffrey Sachs, Director of the
Earth Institute at Columbia University; Richard Besser, ABC News Senior Health and
Medical Editor; and singer-songwriter Angélique Kidjo, a UNICEF Goodwill
Ambassador.

Comprising more than 100 leaders in global health, philanthropy, business, government,
nonprofit and faith-based organizations, the Summit centered on strategies to prevent
and treat pneumonia. Radtke discussed Episcopal Relief & Development’s work in basic
health care and how it is helping reduce child mortality from the disease, the leading
cause of death for children under age five worldwide.

Noting that Episcopal Relief & Development was the only faith-based organization
represented among the speakers, Radtke urged those concerned with pneumonia and
child survival to leverage the reach, credibility and experience of all faith
communities. “According to the World Health Organization, between 30% to 70% of
health care delivery in Africa is owned or overseen by churches and other faith-based
organizations,” he said.

Radtke also emphasized an integrated approach to child survival and urged those in
attendance to focus on the full panoply of interventions—including proper nutrition,
immunizations and malaria prevention—along with pneumonia treatment.

A webcast of the Global Pneumonia Summit, including Radtke’s presentation, will be

available soon at worldpneumoniaday.org/live-webcast/.

Episcopal Relief & Development is a partner in the World Pneumonia Day Coalition,
which was established in April 2009 and “seeks to bring focus on pneumonia as a public
health issue and to prevent the millions of avoidable deaths from pneumonia that occur
each year.” UNICEF has called the disease “the forgotten killer of children,” one that
takes two million children each year—or a child every 15 seconds.

To support Episcopal Relief & Development’s work to eradicate preventable diseases

worldwide, please make an online donation to the Health Fund at www.er-d.org, or call
1-800-334-7626, ext. 5129. Gifts can be mailed to Episcopal Relief & Development, PO
Box 7058, Merrifield, VA 22116-7058.
Episcopal Relief & Development is the international relief and development agency of the
Episcopal Church of the United States and an independent 501(c)(3) organization. The agency
takes its mandate from Jesus’ words found in Matthew 25. Its programs work towards
achieving the Millennium Development Goals. Together with the worldwide Church and
ecumenical partners, Episcopal Relief & Development strengthens communities today to meet
tomorrow’s challenges. We rebuild after disasters and empower people by offering lasting
solutions that fight poverty, hunger and disease, including HIV/AIDS and malaria.

Contact: Daryn Kobata

(800) 334-7626, ext. 6311