World Vision staff hope that hit movie ‘Slumdog Millionaire’ - which could bag as many as 10 Oscars – reminds the world that much more needs to be done to help tens of millions of children escape lives of poverty in India’s slums. 

The film features Jamal Malik, an orphan from the slums of Mumbai, who sets out to win 20 million rupees on India's "Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?" The story highlights his life in the slums, which includes poverty and brutality.  Much of it was shot on location in Mumbai’s slums.

Despite the powerfully engaging storyline, World Vision India – which works in close to 50 slums across India – says five key issues facing children living in slums were not touched on by the movie but are realities for those living in them.  These are:

1. HIV and AIDS threaten India's poor. Stigma remains a huge obstacle for better testing, family acceptance and the care of orphans. Some 2.4 million Indians are HIV positive. 
2. The global food and economic crises have only deepened the misery of India's poorest children. According to the World Bank, the prevalence of underweight children in India is among the highest in the world. In 2007, 46 percent of children under age 5 were underweight. 
3. Traditional standing of girls and women: Traditionally, boys are favored over girls in Indian society, leaving girls to suffer the worst effects of poverty. Girls are more likely to miss out on food, education, immunizations, health care and other necessities. 
4. Early marriage: By law, women in India cannot wed until they are 21, but poverty and customs push thousands of young girls into marriage before their bodies are ready or education complete. World Vision education programmes in India have been shown to reduce the frequency of early marriage when barriers to girls' education are addressed along with dowry issues. 
5. It's bigger than Mumbai: Across India, 180 million children live on less than $1.25 a day. 

"World Vision can attest to the fact that children have an amazing ability to overcome their circumstances, just like Slumdog Millionaire shows, and we're asking people to partner with the children of India so that breaking out of poverty doesn't have to be a one-in-a-million miracle," says World Vision National Director Jayakumar Christian. 

World Vision works in communities across India, assisting street children, people living with HIV and AIDS and families in need of clean water, education as well as providing economic opportunities. 

To view World Vision India’s work: www.worldvisionindia.org

For more information contact:

Jayanth Vincent

Director Communications and Media, World Vision India

Phone: +91 44 2480 7052

Cell: +91 98400 64165