Vaccines have saved the lives of millions of children around the world, and have the potential to save millions more in the future as newer vaccines are developed and introduced. Vaccines have resulted in global eradication of smallpox, we are on the brink of attaining global eradication of polio, and measles deaths have decreased by 78 percent since 2000. Newly developed vaccines will prevent hundreds of thousands of child deaths each year from rotavirus diarrhea and pneumococcal pneumonia when countries can gain access to these vaccines. Immunization is one of the most cost-effective investments in child health. Yet in 2009 in low-income countries, two out of five deaths in children under five-years old were due to pneumonia or diarrhea. New vaccines can prevent a large proportion of these deaths but the global community has not committed the resources necessary to bring the full range of vaccines to all children. Polio eradication is not yet assured, and we are at great risk of losing the dramatic progress made against measles as donor funding has dropped precipitously despite rapid movement toward elimination. The reduction in measles deaths alone accounts for nearly 25 percent of the overall reduction in child deaths since 1990. Achieving Millennium Development Goal 4 -- to reduce under-five child mortality by two-thirds by 2015 -- will not be possible without additional support for immunization. It would be a crime if this goal were missed simply for lack of adequate financial support.
Society has long recognized the value of vaccines. Since 1974, the World Health Organization (WHO) has coordinated a global Expanded Program on Immunization (EPI). Major support came from bilateral development agencies and UNICEF negotiated a significantly reduced price for vaccines in developing countries. However, vaccines don't give themselves. It takes organized structures and trained personnel to deliver vaccines safely to those who need them. In 2008, more than twenty-two million infants were missed by routine immunization services and remain unprotected.
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NOM's Indianapolis stop on the "Summer of Marriage" tour took center stage on Bilerico Project this week. First we broke the picture of the NOM supporter's sign that said the "solution" to same-sex marriage is to lynch gay couples, 
Sunday
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ArtScene and Visual Art Source are the in-print and online resources to fine art galleries and museum in Southern California and the Western United States. Visit us online or pick up a copy for complete listings of art venues and editorial reviews, recommendations and previews of the best current exhibitions. Want to opt-in for a free subscription to stay current every day on our Weekly Newsletter, as well as new shows, events and (if you are an artist) artists' calls? It's easy.
Don't think for a moment that things grind to a halt in Los Angeles during the summer -- it's rich in cultural choices. Here is a selection of six of the top exhibitions currently on view according to our editors and writers. We include closing dates so if you are in the area you can plan your visits more easily; each venue is linked to a page that includes address, map, contact information and more. Be sure to visit our Openings Calendar page so you can plan visits to upcoming exhibitions wherever you may be in the Western States.
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Yes, yes, 2010 is the worst year for movies EVER, screams Joe Queenan of The Wall Street Journal. There have been plenty of years where I felt 'this is the worst year/summer ever', especially as, yes, I've gotten older. Part of it is nostalgia, as I remember the years past through rose-colored glasses. I remember the great moviegoing experiences (my dad taking me to a jampacked advance-night screening of Jurassic Park... best moviegoing experience of my life) more than the bad ones (my dad taking me to see an afternoon matinee of Airheads that had me feeling guilty that it turned out to be such a stinker). But looking back at years that I didn't care for, there are still more than a few movies that are so good that they all-but redeem the year. We forget about the bad movies and only remember the good ones. When people discuss 1972, they discuss The Godfather, Deliverance, Sleuth, and Sounder. They do not mention Horror at Snape Island, The Revengers, or The Last of the Red Hot Lovers. When we think of 1996, we remember (depending on our taste) Fargo, Independence Day, Paradise Lost: The Child Murders At Robin Hood Hills, Get on the Bus, Mission: Impossible, Big Night, or Star Trek: First Contact. But I'm betting most of us haven't given a second thought to Sargent Bilko, Eddie, or Striptease in fourteen years.