NORFOLK, VA (09/10/2010)(readMedia)-- Norfolk, Va. – Sept. 9, 2010 – Physicians for Peace today announced a $25,000 grant from the Bank of America Charitable Foundation to support efforts this fall to improve maternal and child health in rural India.

Charlie Henderson, Hampton Roads market president for Bank of America, presented the donation to Edward A. Heidt Jr., chairman of the Physicians for Peace Board of Trustees, during a ceremony Sept. 9 at the group's headquarters in Norfolk, Va.

The grant will help fund Pediatric Advanced Life Support (PALS) and Neonatal Resuscitation Program (NRP) training during a two-week Physicians for Peace mission in November to Ahmedabad, Nagpur and Sawangi, India, led by Edward Karotkin, M.D., chairman-elect of Physicians for Peace and a neonatologist at the Children's Hospital of The King's Daughters in Norfolk.

"Bank of America is proud to support the life saving efforts of Physicians for Peace," said Henderson. "We applaud their continuous dedication to training medical personnel in developing countries, helping them serve critical needs and provide opportunities that ultimately enhance the quality of life for numerous families."

The American Heart Association and the American Academy of Pediatrics created PALS to assist health-care providers in recognizing early signs of pediatric and infant distress and in intervening to prevent respiratory and cardiopulmonary arrest. Standardized and developed with the American Academy of Pediatrics, NRP is an educational program that introduces the concepts and basic skills of neonatal resuscitation.

Since 2000, Physicians for Peace has provided PALS and NRP training to health care providers throughout the developing world, including India. The November mission seeks to educate indigenous health professionals in critical neonatal and pediatric life-saving techniques, creating an immediate cadre of trained health care providers and empowering them to improve the prognoses of thousands of children and reduce neonatal, infant and under-five mortality rates for the entire population served. Working with Satish Deopujari, M.D., the founder and chairman of India's National Conference on Pediatric Critical Care, the Physicians for Peace team will also serve as guest lecturers at a conference on life- threatening pediatric diseases in Nagpur, India, offering their expertise on sepsis, staph infections, labor and delivery techniques and anesthesiology.

"This training plays a critical role in reducing infant and neonatal mortality in the developing world, and the grant from Bank of America provides a significant opportunity to improve the quality of life in India," said Brig. Gen. Ron Sconyers (USAF, Ret.), president and chief executive officer of Physicians for Peace.

ABOUT PHYSICIANS FOR PEACE

Physicians for Peace is an international non-profit organization that mobilizes volunteer healthcare professionals to assist developing nations with unmet medical needs and scarce resources. Through effective, hands-on medical education and training, clinical care and donated medical supplies, Physicians for Peace develops long-term, sustainable, replicable, and evidence-based programs to help partner nations build medical capability and capacity to help themselves. Since 1989 Volunteers for the 501(c) (3) nonprofit organization have conducted medical missions in more than 60 countries.

With its headquarters in Norfolk, Va., Physicians for Peace has programs in 22 countries and offices in Manila, the Philippines and Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. In 2009, the organization celebrated its 20th Anniversary.

For more information, go to: www.physiciansforpeace.org

Bank of America Corporate Philanthropy

Building on a long-standing tradition of investing in the communities it serves, last year Bank of America embarked on a new, 10-year goal to donate $2 billion to nonprofit organizations engaged in improving the health and vitality of their neighborhoods. Funded by Bank of America, the Bank of America Charitable Foundation gave more than $200 million in 2009, making the bank one of the largest corporate cash donors in the United States. Bank of America approaches investing through a national strategy under which it works with local leaders to identify and meet the most pressing needs of individual communities. Reaffirming a commitment to develop and sustain a culture of service, the bank announced the "Million Hour Challenge," a pledge by the company's associates around the world to donate 1 million volunteer hours by the end of 2010. In 2009, bank associate volunteers contributed more than 800,000 hours to enhance the quality of life in their communities nationwide. For more information about Bank of America Corporate Philanthropy, please visit www.bankofamerica.com/foundation

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Posted Friday September 10, 2010 at 08:00 pm by Physicians for Peace
Last Updated Wednesday September 15, 2010 at 01:28 pm