Paul Simon Uses ‘Sound of Silence’ to Protect Children’s Health Care

Paul Simon's classic 'The Sound of Silence' is used to potent and powerful effect in a new video for the Children's Health Fund, which Simon himself co-founded. The fund works to provide pediatric health care to low-income and medically underserved children. The video is an appeal to congress to dissuade them from cutting safety net programs for children, such as Medicaid and CHIP. Simon and co-founder Irwin Redlener, MD are attempting to speak on behalf of the millions of affected children who can't speak for themselves. They are, essentially, a voice for the voiceless.

The video makes use of Simon's song, as well as testimonials from physicians, about the success and progress of these programs. There are proposed cuts for the Medicaid and CHIPS programs, which would have disastrous results for needy children, preventing them from having access to vaccines and other basic care. All the elements in this video, from the song to the interviews with the doctors, come together to make a strong point.

“When you start to cut the funds for Medicaid and CHIP you see children suffer. You see children going without vaccine coverage; not getting treated for chronic medical problems. Some children will have problems that land them in the hospital or in the emergency room. And some children are going to do poor in school because of it and then we will all pay as a society because we decided to cut services to children,” said Dr. Randy Christensen, Medical Director, Phoenix Children’s Health Project, summing things up and driving home the importance of the safety net programs.

Watch CHF's Video Appeal