Public Health Heroes Awards Ceremony

Rob Reiner has been immersed in the entertainment industry for much of his life, succeeding first as an actor then as a director and producer. He acted in many television and feature productions, including his Emmy-winning work on the long-running television series All in the Family, before finding success as director of the satirical "rockumentary" This is Spinal Tap. Mr. Reiner has since directed such critically acclaimed movies and box office hits as Stand by Me, When Harry Met Sally, Misery, A Few Good Men, The American President, and Ghosts of Mississippi.

Beginning in 1997, Mr. Reiner, his wife Michele, and Ellen Gilbert formed the I Am Your Child Foundation and began a national public awareness and engagement campaign to communicate the importance of the prenatal period through the first three years of life. The campaign was launched with a White House conference on early brain development hosted by President Clinton and the First Lady, and an ABC prime-time special hosted by Tom Hanks, which Reiner co-produced, co-wrote, and directed.

Through his involvement in the I Am Your Child Foundation, which changed its name to Parents' Action for Children, Mr. Reiner was inspired to develop and spearhead Proposition 10, a 1998 California ballot initiative that placed a 50-cent tax on cigarettes to fund early childhood development programs for the state's youngest children. Mr. Reiner led the campaign for its passage and, despite a $35 million effort by the tobacco industry to defeat it, the initiative was approved. Today, it collects nearly $700 million annually to fund an unprecedented statewide effort that seeks to build a comprehensive and integrated system of programs and services for children, prenatal to age five, and their families. Mr. Reiner was appointed by Governor Gray Davis to chair the California Children and Families Commission, which oversees the implementation of Proposition 10. He also serves as co-chair of the Governor's Task Force on School Readiness with Education Secretary Kerri Mazzoni. These efforts reflect his dedication to ensuring that California's youngest children have access to services that will enable them to enter school healthy, learning, and ready to reach their full potential as productive members of society.

Award Presenter

Linda Neuhauser, Dr.P.H., is on the faculty of the School of Public Health at the University of California, Berkeley, where she teaches and researches the effectiveness of educational interventions. She is also principal investigator for the Center for Community Wellness that develops health and wellness guides now reaching 3 million families. She is working in partnership with filmmaker Rob Reiner and state governors to extend multi-media information to new parents nationwide. She is an advisor to the federal Department of Health and Human Services, the National Cancer Institute, and the National Academy of Sciences on the Internet and health communication. She formerly served as a health officer in the US Department of State in West and Central Africa.

The Challenge: Improving Children's Health

Over the span of a generation, and particularly in the last decade, some definite progress has been made in the area of children's health. Polio, once a global epidemic, is on the verge of eradication, and deaths from two remorseless child killers – measles and neonatal tetanus – have been reduced over the past 10 years by 85 percent and over 25 percent, respectively. Some 12 million children are now free from the risk of mental retardation due to iodine deficiency, and blindness from vitamin A deficiency has been significantly reduced. Unfortunately, these advances are overshadowed by indicators that show an enormous amount of work remains in the fight to improve the health of children.

Currently, an overwhelming majority of the people in the world who live in poverty are women and children. They are also the overwhelming majority of civilians who are killed and maimed in conflicts, and the most vulnerable to disease. Every day, over 30,000 children under five years of age die of mainly preventable causes, and even more children and young people succumb to illnesses, neglect, accidents, and assaults. Every month, 250,000 children and young people become infected with HIV. Every year, 30 million infants are still not reached by routine immunizations and 149 million children suffer from malnutrition.

In the effort to improve the state of children's health, there is urgency to working with children and their families during the very early childhood years – a time when the foundation can best be set to ensure that children are physically healthy, mentally alert, emotionally secure, socially competent and intellectually able to learn. This foundation requires that mothers are well cared for during pregnancy, delivery and lactation as a way to assure children the healthiest beginnings. It also depends on care and nurturing for the child, good nutrition, access to safe water and sanitation, immunization against vaccine-preventable diseases, and a protective atmosphere that encourages early socialization, stimulation, and positive interaction with family and community.

The School of Public Health Responds

The School of Public Health has a long history of commitment to children's health – a commitment that is expressed through a highly regarded training program and broad range of relevant research initiatives.

The remarkable influence and success of the school's Maternal and Child Health (MCH) Program, supported by one of longest-running federal training grants in the country, is reflected in the achievements of the more than 1,000 MCH graduates, who have distinguished themselves in countless ways.

Faculty research interests address a broad range of children's health issues, including nutrition and pregnancy outcomes; the effects of environmental exposures to reproductive, perinatal and children's health; evaluation of perinatal care; access to care for children of the working poor; international family planning; childhood asthma; the impact of stress on children’s health; and the effects of food and nutrition policies on childhood growth and health status.

Among the school's larger-scale children's health research projects is the Center for Health Assessment of the Mothers and Children of Salinas (CHAMACOS), a community/university partnership studying the environment and children's health in California's Salinas Valley. Another major effort is an NIH-funded study of childhood leukemia, the most inclusive environmental analysis of the disease ever undertaken. The Center for Community Wellness also sponsors important children's health initiatives, which includes partnering with the California Children and Families Commission and the I Am Your Child Foundation to produce materials as part of early childhood education campaigns designed to help parents understand how to best support and nurture their children.

	2002 Regional Hero Rob Reiner Actor and Director; Cofounder, Parents' Action for Children (formerly the I Am Your Child foundation)	Other 2002 Heroes International Zafrullah Chowdhury National Philip R. Lee, M.D. Organizational On Lok
2002 Regional Hero -Rob Reiner Rob Reiner has been immersed in the entertainment industry for much of his life, succeeding first as an actor then as a director and producer. He acted in many television and feature productions, including his Emmy-winning work on the long-running television series All in the Family, before finding success as director of the satirical "rockumentary" This is Spinal Tap. Mr. Reiner has since directed such critically acclaimed movies and box office hits as Stand by Me, When Harry Met Sally, Misery, A Few Good Men, The American President, and Ghosts of Mississippi. Beginning in 1997, Mr. Reiner, his wife Michele, and Ellen Gilbert formed the I Am Your Child Foundation and began a national public awareness and engagement campaign to communicate the importance of the prenatal period through the first three years of life. The campaign was launched with a White House conference on early brain development hosted by President Clinton and the First Lady, and an ABC prime-time special hosted by Tom Hanks, which Reiner co-produced, co-wrote, and directed. Through his involvement in the I Am Your Child Foundation, which changed its name to Parents' Action for Children, Mr. Reiner was inspired to develop and spearhead Proposition 10, a 1998 California ballot initiative that placed a 50-cent tax on cigarettes to fund early childhood development programs for the state's youngest children. Mr. Reiner led the campaign for its passage and, despite a $35 million effort by the tobacco industry to defeat it, the initiative was approved. Today, it collects nearly $700 million annually to fund an unprecedented statewide effort that seeks to build a comprehensive and integrated system of programs and services for children, prenatal to age five, and their families. Mr. Reiner was appointed by Governor Gray Davis to chair the California Children and Families Commission, which oversees the implementation of Proposition 10. He also serves as co-chair of the Governor's Task Force on School Readiness with Education Secretary Kerri Mazzoni. These efforts reflect his dedication to ensuring that California's youngest children have access to services that will enable them to enter school healthy, learning, and ready to reach their full potential as productive members of society. Award Presenter Linda Neuhauser, Dr.P.H., is on the faculty of the School of Public Health at the University of California, Berkeley, where she teaches and researches the effectiveness of educational interventions. She is also principal investigator for the Center for Community Wellness that develops health and wellness guides now reaching 3 million families. She is working in partnership with filmmaker Rob Reiner and state governors to extend multi-media information to new parents nationwide. She is an advisor to the federal Department of Health and Human Services, the National Cancer Institute, and the National Academy of Sciences on the Internet and health communication. She formerly served as a health officer in the US Department of State in West and Central Africa. The Challenge: Improving Children's Health Over the span of a generation, and particularly in the last decade, some definite progress has been made in the area of children's health. Polio, once a global epidemic, is on the verge of eradication, and deaths from two remorseless child killers – measles and neonatal tetanus – have been reduced over the past 10 years by 85 percent and over 25 percent, respectively. Some 12 million children are now free from the risk of mental retardation due to iodine deficiency, and blindness from vitamin A deficiency has been significantly reduced. Unfortunately, these advances are overshadowed by indicators that show an enormous amount of work remains in the fight to improve the health of children. Currently, an overwhelming majority of the people in the world who live in poverty are women and children. They are also the overwhelming majority of civilians who are killed and maimed in conflicts, and the most vulnerable to disease. Every day, over 30,000 children under five years of age die of mainly preventable causes, and even more children and young people succumb to illnesses, neglect, accidents, and assaults. Every month, 250,000 children and young people become infected with HIV. Every year, 30 million infants are still not reached by routine immunizations and 149 million children suffer from malnutrition. In the effort to improve the state of children's health, there is urgency to working with children and their families during the very early childhood years – a time when the foundation can best be set to ensure that children are physically healthy, mentally alert, emotionally secure, socially competent and intellectually able to learn. This foundation requires that mothers are well cared for during pregnancy, delivery and lactation as a way to assure children the healthiest beginnings. It also depends on care and nurturing for the child, good nutrition, access to safe water and sanitation, immunization against vaccine-preventable diseases, and a protective atmosphere that encourages early socialization, stimulation, and positive interaction with family and community. The School of Public Health Responds The School of Public Health has a long history of commitment to children's health – a commitment that is expressed through a highly regarded training program and broad range of relevant research initiatives. The remarkable influence and success of the school's Maternal and Child Health (MCH) Program, supported by one of longest-running federal training grants in the country, is reflected in the achievements of the more than 1,000 MCH graduates, who have distinguished themselves in countless ways. Faculty research interests address a broad range of children's health issues, including nutrition and pregnancy outcomes; the effects of environmental exposures to reproductive, perinatal and children's health; evaluation of perinatal care; access to care for children of the working poor; international family planning; childhood asthma; the impact of stress on children’s health; and the effects of food and nutrition policies on childhood growth and health status. Among the school's larger-scale children's health research projects is the Center for Health Assessment of the Mothers and Children of Salinas (CHAMACOS), a community/university partnership studying the environment and children's health in California's Salinas Valley. Another major effort is an NIH-funded study of childhood leukemia, the most inclusive environmental analysis of the disease ever undertaken. The Center for Community Wellness also sponsors important children's health initiatives, which includes partnering with the California Children and Families Commission and the I Am Your Child Foundation to produce materials as part of early childhood education campaigns designed to help parents understand how to best support and nurture their children.