A group led by the Johns Hopkins University Center for Communication Programs (JHU/CCP) has been awarded $127 million by the U.S. government to implement a five-year global project designed to use strategic communication to fight infectious diseases such as HIV/AIDS, TB, and malaria; improve maternal and child health; and reduce fertility in the developing world.

The award from the U.S. Agency for International Development will fund activities such as large-scale use of mass media linked to community mobilization and outreach programs promoting healthy behaviors by both individuals and communities. The Global Communication Partnership team includes JHU/CCP, the Academy for Educational Development (AED), Save the Children, the International HIV/AIDS Alliance, Tulane University's School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Helping to implement the project worldwide will be dozens of partners based in the developing world and several global joint programming partners. The joint programming partners represent a unique group of collaborators from the private commercial sector, the educational media field, and the faith-based world. Among them are Sesame Workshop, Procter & Gamble, the World Council of Churches, the BBC World Service Trust, and the Discovery Channel's Global Education Fund.