Washington Wizards, PAHO Team Up for Children's Health

Washington, D.C., December 10, 2004 (PAHO)—The NBA Washington Wizards' game next Wednesday, December 15, will be played under the motto of "Healthy Environments for Children" as part of a partnership with the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO).

Cuban-American pop singer and Grammy awards winner Jon Secada – a PAHO "Champion of Health" – will perform at halftime of Wednesday's game against the Miami Heat, featuring its star player center Shaquille O'Neal. Wizards players Steve Blake, Juan Dixon, Jarvis Hayes and Etan Thomas appear during the game in public service messages on children and the environment.

Ten dollars of every ticket specially ordered for Wednesday's game between the Wizards and the Miami Heat will be donated to the Pan American Health and Education Foundation for children's environmental health programs. The game starts at 7 pm EST at the MCI Center in Washington, D.C.

"Your home and your neighborhood are your environment, too," says Wizards guard Steve Blake in a public service announcement produced by PAHO. The initiative also supports efforts of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to improve children's environmental health.

"Please don't smoke around your kids," says another Wizards player, guard Juan Dixon, in the same PSA.

Two other Wizards players, forward Jarvis Hayes and center Etan Thomas, also appear in the PSA.

"Keep pesticides and chemicals out of reach," says Hayes while Thomas sets the tone for the message of the PSA – "I love being healthy! Protect my environment!" – when he says: "The ball is in your court. Make it happen!"

Wednesday's game will be one of three games of the current Wizards season in which the NBA team joins PAHO to use a popular sports event to spread and endorse health campaigns through "Health Awareness Game Nights" at the MCI Center in the nation's capital.

"PAHO and the Wizards wanted to use basketball as a platform to engender the health prevention and healthy living habit in our communities as a part of every day living. Based in Washington, PAHO made the natural choice of joining forces with the Wizards to promote the message of health awareness each day," according to an announcement by the Wizards' office.

The goal of Wednesday's game is to improve the environment for children. The other two games are:

• February 9, 2005: The Wizards against the San Antonio Spurs, one of whose best-known players is forward Tim Duncan. The motto is "Youth Violence Awareness Game Night." The goal is to reduce youth violence in our communities.
• April 9, 2005: The Wizards against the Philadelphia 76ers, a team that features point guard Allen Iverson. The motto is "Maternal and Child Awareness Game Night" and the goal is to improve maternal and child health. Healthy mothers and children also is the theme for World Health Day 2005 to be celebrated on April 7, two days before the Philadelphia game.

PAHO was established in 1902 and is the world's oldest public health organization. PAHO works with all the countries of the Americas to improve the health and the quality of life of people of the Americas. It serves as the Regional Office for the Americas of the World Health Organization (WHO).

PAHO Member States today include all 35 countries in the Americas. France, the Kingdom of the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland are Participating States. Portugal and Spain are Observer States, and Puerto Rico is an Associate Member.