Healthy Connections: Technology Promoting Family Health

NEW YORK, Sept. 24, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- During the Healthier Futures plenary at the Clinton Global Initiative (CGI) Annual Meeting, Chelsea Clinton was joined onstage by Pro Mujer's President and Chief Executive Officer, Rosario Perez; Mayo Clinic's President and CEO, John Noseworthy, M.D.; the President of Pfizer Latin America, Adele Gulfo; Sesame Workshop President and CEO, H. Melvin Ming, along with Sesame Street Muppet, Rosita, to announce a unique CGI Commitment to Action that will promote healthy behavior and disease prevention among poor women and children in Bolivia, Nicaragua, Peru, Mexico and Argentina. The commitment will use a new technology platform integrating mobile, web, and video technology along with remote training and access to specialists.

(Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20130924/NY85748 )

Combining the power of Mayo Clinic's women's health and wellness expertise with Pro Mujer's extensive network of health clinics and human development service providers, this commitment will significantly enhance the well-being of women and their families throughout Latin American. The impact of this initiative will be significantly enhanced by the partnership with Sesame Workshop. The iconic Muppets of Plaza Sesamo, the Latin American version of Sesame Street, will be deployed through various media and social media efforts to deliver health education messages through children to their families. 'Healthy Connections' will be further supported by Pfizer, which will provide technical assistance to the project through its skills-based corporate volunteering programs, Global Health Fellows and Global Health Teams, designed to promote the quality, efficiency or effectiveness of healthcare for underserved populations. Pfizer will also provide significant operational funding.

Chronic diseases cause 68 percent of deaths in Latin America, according to the World Health Organization. Experts predict that the mortality rate from diabetes, heart disease, and stroke will triple in the next two decades. Through education and engagement with renowned physicians, 'Healthy Connections' seeks to reduce the burden that chronic diseases impose on Latin American families, governments, and societies at large.

"This is a unique opportunity for Pro Mujer to partner with these prominent organizations in health and education and create a technology platform which has the potential to significantly improve the health of the women and children we serve in Latin America," said Pro Mujer CEO Rosario Perez.

Sesame Workshop President and CEO H. Melvin Ming, said, "We are so pleased to be a part of this collaborative effort to utilize content from Plaza Sesamo to help deliver important health messages to children and their families. For decades, we've had the privilege of using media to address children's needs and help them reach their highest potential."

Mayo Clinic President and CEO, Dr. John Noseworthy added, "Global humanitarian service has been a moral imperative at Mayo Clinic throughout our 150 year history. This program and innovative partnership, led by Dr. Patricia Simmons and the Office of Mayo Clinic Abroad, is an exciting step in making an even greater impact on the health of women and children in Latin America."

"Pfizer is honored to be part of a one-of-a-kind effort that seeks to empower individuals to take charge of their health relying on the very same technology they use to manage other aspects of their daily lives. With 'Healthy Connections' a healthier future for Latin American families is only a click away," said Pfizer Latin America President Adele Gulfo.  

'Healthy Connections' will launch this fall when the project partners will conduct research and market studies, assess staff training, and develop a project framework. Next year, Pro Mujer clinicians will be able to consult Mayo Clinic specialist via the 'Ask Mayo Expert' online platform. Both organizations will test the remote consultation interventions in select clinic sites in the five countries where Pro Mujer operates.

For more information, contact:

Jose Bayona, Pro Mujer
Office (646) 626 7000, ext.129
Cell (347) 878 8410
[email protected]

Beatrice Chow, Sesame Workshop
(212) 875-6586
[email protected]

Ginger Plumbo, Mayo Clinic
507-284-5005 (days)
507-284-2511 (evenings)
Email: [email protected]

Sharon J. Castillo, Pfizer                                                                      
Cell: (202) 494-6769                                                  
[email protected]

ABOUT PRO MUJER

Pro Mujer is a leading women's development, health and microfinance nonprofit social enterprise that provides its more than 270,000 clients in Latin America with a set of integrated services: small loans, savings and insurance; business and empowerment training; and high-quality, low-cost primary health care. This powerful formula helps the courageous and hardworking women the organization serves generate much-needed income for themselves and their families, unlock their personal potential, send their children to school, care for their health, and make life-altering changes to bring themselves out of poverty. 

Founded in Bolivia in 1990, Pro Mujer also operates in Argentina, Mexico, Nicaragua and Peru and is headquartered in New York City. Over the past 23 years, Pro Mujer has disbursed more than US$1 billion in small loans and reached more than 1.6 million women and their 6.4 million children and family members.

For more information, please visit www.promujer.org or join the conversation on Twitter @promujer or in Facebook www.facebook.com/promujerintl.

ABOUT SESAME WORKSHOP

Sesame Workshop is the nonprofit educational organization behind Sesame Street, the landmark television program that reaches millions of children every day in more than 150 countries. The Workshop's mission is to use the educational power of media to help children everywhere reach their highest potential. Delivered through a variety of platforms, Sesame Workshop develops research-based content – including television programs, books, games, mobile apps and community engagement initiatives – that supports early childhood learning, helps prepare children for school, and addresses developmental needs. The Workshop's programs are tailored to the needs of specific regions and focus on topics that help young children and families develop critical skills for lifelong learning. For more information, visit us at www.sesameworkshop.org.

ABOUT MAYO CLINIC

Mayo Clinic is a nonprofit worldwide leader in medical care, research and education for people from all walks of life. For more information, visit www.mayoclinic.com and www.mayoclinic.org/news.

ABOUT PFIZER

At Pfizer, we apply science and our global resources to bring therapies to people that extend and significantly improve their lives. We strive to set the standard for quality, safety and value in the discovery, development and manufacture of health care products. Our global portfolio includes medicines and vaccines as well as many of the world's best-known consumer health care products. Every day, Pfizer colleagues work across developed and emerging markets to advance wellness, prevention, treatments and cures that challenge the most feared diseases of our time. Consistent with our responsibility as one of the world's premier innovative biopharmaceutical companies, we collaborate with health care providers, governments and local communities to support and expand access to reliable, affordable health care around the world. For more than 150 years, Pfizer has worked to make a difference for all who rely on us. To learn more, please visit us at www.pfizer.com.

ABOUT THE CLINTON GLOBAL INITIATIVE

Established in 2005 by President Bill Clinton, the Clinton Global Initiative (CGI), an initiative of Bill, Hillary & Chelsea Clinton Foundation, convenes global leaders to create and implement innovative solutions to the world's most pressing challenges. CGI Annual Meetings have brought together more than 150 heads of state, 20 Nobel Prize laureates, and hundreds of leading CEOs, heads of foundations and NGOs, major philanthropists, and members of the media. To date CGI members have made more than 2,300 commitments, which are already improving the lives of more than 400 million people in over 180 countries. When fully funded and implemented, these commitments will be valued at $73.5 billion. CGI also convenes CGI America, a meeting focused on collaborative solutions to economic recovery in the United States, and CGI University (CGI U), which brings together undergraduate and graduate students to address pressing challenges in their community or around the world, and, this year, CGI Latin America, which will bring together Latin American leaders to identify, harness, and strengthen ways to improve the livelihoods of people in Latin America and around the world. For more information, visit clintonglobalinitiative.org and follow us on Twitter @ClintonGlobal and Facebook at facebook.com/clintonglobalinitiative.

SOURCE Pro Mujer