Red Cross to salute LDS measles effort

The president of the American Red Cross will present the "Circle of Humanitarians Award" to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints today for its ongoing support of a measles vaccination campaign.

Red Cross CEO Marsha J. Evans will meet with church leaders to accept a $1 million donation on behalf of the Measles Initiative (www.measlesinitiative.org), and will use the visit to present the organization's highest financial support honor. Sister Bonnie D. Parkin, general president of the church's Relief Society, and Bishop H. David Burton, the faith's presiding bishop, will meet with Evans.

Every year, nearly 700,000 children die from measles around the world, nearly half of whom live in Africa. Though it costs less than $1 per child to vaccinate, the disease remains the world's leading vaccine-preventable childhood killer. The Measles Initiative is a partnership designed to vaccinate 200 million children in Africa, saving 1.2 million lives.