World Malaria Day 2010

Vestergaard Frandsen is proud to support the efforts of several partners on World Malaria Day 2010, including Malaria No More, Malaria Consortium, Nothing But Nets, United Against Malaria, and Roll Back Malaria. With these public and private partnerships, we help educate the public and media about the threat to health, educational and economic opportunity, and stability that malaria poses. Together, we can better work towards achieving the 2015 Millennium Development Goals on malaria.

To that end, we supported the following events and projects that reached out to a variety of audiences: communities across Africa, youth, academics and public health experts, the public, online social networks, and media and arts world.

Soccer Camps in Ghana, Uganda, and Mozambique

We partnered with Canadian nonprofit Right To Play on a series of events in Ghana, Uganda and Mozambique to use football matches and skills clinics by professional footballers while teaching young people about malaria and prevention of the disease through use of PermaNet® bed nets. At each event, 1,000 PermaNet® were donated to keep the young soccer players and their families malaria-free. We also gave away soccer cards featuring some of Africa's top players to drive the malaria messaging further home.

Learn more

• Learn more about Right To Play
  

World Malaria Day Celebrations in Lubumbashi, DR Congo

Under the umbrella of CORESA (the Coalition Religieuse pour la Santé), a coalition of Christian, Jewish and Muslim grassroots religious leaders joined together to celebrate World Malaria Day and distribute 30,000 purchased PermaNet® bed nets in Lubumbashi. Special guest Yvonne Chaka Chaka, UNICEF and Roll Back Malaria Goodwill Ambassador Malaria, spoke to and sang for the thousands of people who showed up for the event.

Funding for the net distribution was provided by The United Methodist Church through the United Nations Foundation Nothing But Nets program and NetsforLife®.  NetsforLife® is a program partnership of Episcopal Relief & Development that provides life-saving information and bed nets to remote communities not reached by national health programs, using a network of local churches, faith-based groups and non- governmental organizations.

Learn more

• Read the whole story
  
• Learn more about Imagine No Malaria
  
• See images of the celebrations and and bed net distribution on Flickr
  

GOOD: Malaria in California Video

With GOOD and Malaria No More, we launched a provocation: a video detailing the effects that a malaria outbreak had in West Canton, California in early May. In the style of a mock breaking news story, the video illustrates the impact malaria resistant to drugs and insecticide can have on children, their families, and the community. Malaria can seem all the more real if it's happening right in your own backyard. Although malaria was eradicated in the United States over 50 years ago, it still kills 3000 children every day in Africa.

Learn more

• Watch the Malaria in California video
• Read the Malaria No More blog post about the video
• Learn more about GOOD
  

“Malaria: Blood, Sweat & Tears” Photo Exhibit at United Nations Headquarters 

With Malaria Consortium and Roll Back Malaria, Vestergaard Frandsen launched an exhibit of photographs from award-winning photojournalist Adam Nadel chronicling how the vicious cycle of poverty and malaria has touched the lives of people all over the world, his images offering testimony that more must be done to combat malaria worldwide. A reception brought together Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon, Her Royal Highness Princess Astrid of Belgium, Roll Back Malaria Partnership Executive Director Dr. Awa Marie Coll-Seck, and CEO of the Group, Mikkel Vestergaard Frandsen. Additionally, a panel discussion on future funding gaps for malaria prevention investments was held between public health experts in the field.

Learn more

• Read the whole story
  
• Read the New York Times review and browse slideshow of the exhibit
• Browse the whole exhibit online
  

UN Foundation, ONE, Gates Foundation, Nothing But Nets and UAM Sleep Out to End Malaria event

Participants on college campuses in New York, Philadelphia, Washington, DC, Los Angeles, Nashville and Seattle will show their commitment to ending malaria deaths by 2015 by sleeping out in solidarity with thousands of others around the world in the Sleep Out to End Malaria on April 24, 2010, the eve of World Malaria Day. We provided bed nets for students to educate participants and local media about how contracting malaria is prevented.

Learn more

• Learn more about Sleep Out to End Malaria
  
• See images of participating students on their sleep out on Flickr

Kingsley Holgate 2010 United Against Malaria Expedition

Famed African explorer Kingsley Holgate will depart from South Africa on World Malaria Day in a caravan of ten Land Rovers to visit seven countries before June 7^th and the start of the World Cup to raise awareness about malaria and distribute 5,000 PermaNet® bed nets along his journey to nine African countries. The expedition is being sponsored by Vestergaard Frandsen, Land Rover, Nandos, Motorola, and others. The expedition will culminate with an ascent of Mount Kilimanjaro 2-7 June, and the unveiling of a PermaNet® bed net at the “top of Africa” to symbolically show that the 2010 goals of universal coverage can be attained.

Learn more

• Learn more about Kingsley Holgate
  
• Read more about the United Against Malaria Expedition
  
• Follow the expedition on Twitter