Malaria Takes Center Stage and Center Court to Help Save Lives in South Sudan - AllAfrica.com

Fela Broadway and basketball stars join the UN Foundation’s Nothing But Nets campaign to send life-saving bed nets to protect families fleeing conflict and returning home

Since last June, more than 130,000 refugees—and counting—have entered South Sudan and neighboring countries to escape fighting on the border of Sudan. As the situation worsens, the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) is providing food, water, and shelter. Yet malaria is the leading cause of death among children under five in South Sudan and families need another life-saving tool: insecticide-treated bed nets.

To meet this need, the UN Foundation’s Nothing But Nets campaign is launching a nationwide appeal today to send 100,000 life-saving bed nets to help these families sleep safely. Broadway shows, like the critically acclaimed Fela, in Nederlander theaters across the U.S. are fundraising, and NBA stars are raising awareness, to help Nothing But Nets reach this goal as quickly as possible. On this call, on-the-ground experts and community leaders from around the U.S. will discuss the current situation in South Sudan, what they are doing to save lives, and how anyone can help.

In Africa, every 60 seconds, a child dies from malaria—a disease spread by a single mosquito bite and can be prevented through the use of an insecticide-treated net. The nets create a protective barrier against mosquitoes at night, when the vast majority of malaria transmissions occur, and are the most cost-effective method of preventing the spread of the disease. A net costs just $10 to purchase, deliver, and to educate the recipient on its proper use.
To date, Nothing But Nets has raised more than $40 million to distribute more than 6 million nets to families throughout Africa. To learn more, visit www.NothingButNets.net<http://www.NothingButNets.net>

About Nothing But Nets

Nothing But Nets is a global, grassroots campaign to save lives by preventing malaria, a leading killer of children in Africa. Inspired by sports columnist Rick Reilly, hundreds of thousands of people have joined the campaign that was created by the United Nations Foundation in 2006.  Campaign partners include the National Basketball Association’s NBA Cares, The people of The United Methodist Church, and Major League Soccer’s MLS W.O.R.K.S. It only costs $10 to provide an insecticide-treated bed net that can prevent this deadly disease. Visit www.NothingButNets.net<http://www.NothingButNets.net> to send a net and save a life.

About the United Nations Foundation

The United Nations Foundation, a public charity, was created in 1998 with entrepreneur and philanthropist Ted Turner’s historic $1 billion gift to support UN causes and activities.  We build and implement public/private partnerships to address the world’s most pressing problems, and work to broaden support for the UN through advocacy and public outreach.  Through our campaigns and partnerships, we connect people, ideas, and resources to help the UN solve global problems.  These campaigns focus on reducing child mortality, empowering women and girls, creating a new energy future, securing peace and human rights, and promoting technology innovation to improve health outcomes.  These solutions are helping the UN advance the eight global targets known as the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).  For more information, visit www.unfoundation.org<http://www.unfoundation.org/>.