Malaria No More

Malaria No More is a nonprofit organization located in New York, NY that aims to end deaths caused by malaria in Africa. It was founded in 2006 at the first ever White House Summit on Malaria by leading non-governmental organizations such as American Red Cross, Unicef, Global Business Coalition, United Way, Millennium Promise, The Global Fund, and the United Nations Foundation. Malaria No More aims to galvanize individuals, organizations, and corporations in the private sector to provide life-saving bed nets and other critical interventions to families in need. Together these investments will significantly reduce malaria infections and make malaria-related deaths a thing of the past.

With prevention and treatment methods, the United States was able to eradicate malaria by 1951 with the establishment of the Center for Disease Control and Prevention. In the 21st century, however, the disease is still endemic to 106 nations, threatening 50% of Earth's population. It claims almost one million lives per year in Africa, and 3,000 lives of children per day. ^[1] The hardest hit population are children under 5 living in poverty. The lack of money to buy bed nets and treatment combined with the humid, tropical environment preferred by mosquitoes and the malaria parasite put people in Africa at an enormous risk for contracting and dying from this treatable disease. It is the cause of 20% of the deaths of Zambian children under 5 ^[2] In Kenya, approximately 90 people die daily from malaria. ^[3]. Said a Uganda doctor to Dr. Mark Grabowsky of the CDC and the Global Fund, "If you get rid of measles, we can close the measles ward. If you get rid of malaria, we can close the hospital," illustrating the enormity of the problem of malaria. ^[4] It is the one of the most deadly and prevalent diseases in Africa, yet also the most preventable and treatable.

A life saving bed net can protect often a mother and a child from malaria-carrying mosquitos. Here, a woman sits with her malnourished child under a mosquito net at a nutrition centre in Darfur

The first campaign being run by Malaria No More raises money for and distributes life-saving bed nets to families in Sub-Saharan Africa. These bed nets are insecticide treated and thus help keep malaria-carrying mosquitoes away from people when the mosquito bites at night. This method is what Malaria No More advocates as a $10 solution to malaria– the amount of money it takes to manufacture, ship, and distribute one mosquito net to a family in Africa, as well as educate them about their use. Each insecticide treated net then provides up to 5 years of protection from mosquitoes that carry the malaria parasite^[5]. Additionally, Malaria No More also supports a comprehensive approach to control malaria including education and awareness, prevention, and treatment.

The organization has received much public support. Fundraising efforts have included the popular American Idol television show. On April 24-25, 2007, FOX Network aired a 2-day special “Idol Gives Back” charity show that raised almost $70 million for nonprofit organizations including Malaria No More^[6]. Celebrities involved with the event included Bono, Tom Cruise, Madonna, Ben Stiller, Jack Black, Teri Hatcher, Eric McCormack, Hugh Laurie, Matt Damon, and Helen Mirren ^[7]. Celebrity spokespersons for Malaria No More include Ashley Judd and David Beckham.

April 25, 2007 was the first Malaria Awareness Day in the United States, designated by President George W. Bush. On this day, the United States renewed its commitment to fighting malaria in Africa and around the world. While discussing the establishment of the new Malaria Awareness day, George and Laura Bush mentioned White House collaboration with Malaria No More to distribute more than half a million bed nets to Uganda and in Madagascar to over 1.4 million children.^[8]