Apr
23
2010

World Malaria Day: Mosquito nets save lives, and now, so do tweets

by Sokunthea Sa Chhabra

We've all heard the statistic: Every thirty seconds a child dies from malaria in Africa.

It's not just a statistic. It's very real. But, it does not have to be so, because malaria is a completely preventable and treatable disease. This is why the Case Foundation is excited to partner with Twitter and Malaria No More in honor of World Malaria Day, which is this Sunday April 25th, on the End Malaria campaign. Starting today, you can make a difference through this campaign, by going to Hope140.org/EndMalaria and:

  • Retweeting this message from @MalariaNoMore to make a $10 donation: RT: Malaria kills a child every 30 secs. Nets #endmalaria. So do RTs. RT2Give $10 http://rt2give.com/t/425
  • Texting ‘NET’ to 85944 to make a $10 donation to Malaria No More
  • Adding hashtag(s) #endmalaria, #malaria, #malariaday and/or #worldmalariaday to your tweets and the hashtags will trigger the addition of clickable mosquito icons

The Case Foundation is matching each $10 donation up to $25,000 through Tuesday, April 27th. More details are available in this press release, including this quote from Biz Stone, co-founder of Twitter:

The difference between life and death can come down to a $10 bed net. The simple act of tweeting both donates to and promotes the important work of Malaria No More. By matching these donations, the Case Foundation transforms our tweets into a powerful force for good.

For the Case Foundation, this campaign makes so much sense, and combines two tenets we're passionate about: unleashing the power of citizen driven participation and leveraging technology and social media for social good. Here's what Kari has to say on Social Citizens:

We saw the recent power of texting to give to the tune of $30 million raised through a variety of campaigns related to the tragic earthquake in Haiti.  These campaigns were a game changer for how we use mobile to respond to crises.   Now together through the powerful combination of tweeting to give and texting to give - we can educate, raise awareness, and help eradicate Malaria for the world’s most vulnerable.

Let’s take a look at the numbers:

  • At present 200 million mosquito bed nets have been delivered across sub-Saharan Africa, affording protection to half of the world's population at risk of malaria.  
  • 100 million more bed nets are in the process of being produced and delivered, leaving a 50 million bed net gap to meet the United Nations Secretary-General's goal of universal coverage by year's end.
  • Every thirty seconds a child dies from malaria in Africa. However, malaria is a completely preventable and treatable disease.
  • There are approximately 50 million "tweets" sent across the twitterverse each day

You can play your part by going to http://www.hope140.org/endmalaria today!

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