Turning Back the Clock on Malaria

On Friday April 5, Nothing But Nets participated in a 1,000-minute digital rally celebrating the progress of the United Nations Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) with a look forward to post 2015 goals. As part of the movement to inspire action to build a better world, Nothing But Nets hosted a Twitter party focused on progress in the fight to end malaria.

It wasn’t that long ago that a child died every 30 seconds from malaria. Today, that figure is every 60 seconds. Though the rally was meant to celebrate successes like this, it was sobering to think that over the course of 1,000 minutes, we would lose 1,000 children to a preventable disease like malaria. That’s why we urged our partners to share the work we’re doing together to keep families across Africa safe from malaria.  We asked our partners JCI and Friends of the Global Fight Against AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria to co-host the event and invited supporters around the world to join the conversation.

JCI told us about some of the creative projects their 200,000 members are spearheading to raise awareness and funds to help end malaria deaths like sailing for nets at the JCI Regatta and trivia fundraisers at international JCI events. They also shared plans to travel with the Nothing But Nets team to distribute life-saving bed nets to Africa later this year, to spread the buzz about ending malaria on a summer bus tour across the United States, and to raise $600,000 in 2013 through events around the globe.

Spotlighting the importance of funding for malaria efforts, Friends of the Global Fight highlighted that the Global Fund provides approximately half of international funding for malaria, and that as of December 2012, Global Fund-supported programs had distributed 310 million insecticide-treated nets. Incredible! With continued funding, the Global Fund will be able to continue the fight against malaria through a new funding model that will get resources to the places they are needed most.

By the end of the chat, the overarching message was clear: malaria is preventable, and if we all do our part, we can be the generation that finally ends this deadly disease. No parent should have to worry about losing a child to a single mosquito bite. Big thanks to all of our partners and supporters who were able to chime in to the conversation. We are excited to continue turning back the clock on malaria through 2015 and beyond! 

Click here to learn about more ways to help join the fight to end malaria.