Nothing But Nets Blog

A few months ago, we asked for your help in achieving a big goal: sending 150,000 anti-malaria bed nets to refugees in Somalia, Kenya, and Ethiopia. Due to the drought, famine, and conflict throughout the Horn of Africa, new refugees are arriving in camps each day. Malaria is a leading cause of death among refugees; they need food, water, shelter -- and nets -- to survive.

So many of you did your part to help! From faith-based organizations to celebrities, net manufacturers to attendees of the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, thousands of people and partners worked to help us meet (even exceed!) our goal of sending 150,000 insecticide-treated bed nets to refugees in the Horn of Africa -- and those nets will make a huge difference toward keeping families in camps healthy.

Today, we join the UN Foundation and our partners in the global health community to celebrate the life-saving work of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria.

What is the Global Fund? Good question. It’s a public-private partnership that raises money from world governments and international organizations to stop the spread of AIDS, tuberculosis, and malaria and distributes resources where they are most needed. The Global Fund provides two-thirds of world’s funds for malaria prevention and treatment.

As Nothing But Nets supporters, we know you’re committed to helping others. Two years ago today, we asked you turn your compassion you have for sending nets and saving lives to those affected by the devastating earthquake in Haiti. Your response was overwhelming -- thousands of you joined the UN Foundation in helping the United Nations in Haiti by contributing to the UN’s Central Emergency Relief Fund (CERF).

Including your contributions, the UN Foundation community helped raise nearly $4 million. These generous donations have enabled the UN to:

• Provide food, medicine, water, and shelter following the earthquake through a $3 million grant to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), including to the Central Emergency Response Fund to respond to future emergencies like Haiti.
• Grant $240,000 to the UN Development Program (UNDP) for their Cash-for-Work program, an initiative to offer Haitians temporary jobs to remove rubble and help rebuild.
• Remove 50 percent of the debris produced by the earthquake's destruction.
• Provide jobs to more than 200,000 people.
• Grant more than $776,000 to the UN Population Fund (UNFPA) for maternal health kits, as well as solar street lights to help keep women and girls safe at night.

This week, Nothing But Nets is spreading the buzz among more than 150,000 of the most NETworked people around – at the world-famous Consumer Electronics Show (CES)! 

Every year, the biggest names in technology come to Las Vegas to showcase the newest gadgets and big ideas. Thanks to our partners at Variety and some of the bright young minds on the UN Foundation’s Global Entrepreneurs Council, we’re proud to be CES’s first-ever featured charity. 

While attendees are exploring booths to find the next Xbox or Plasma TV (both first introduced at CES), they’re also discovering a new way to give back: Send a net. Save a life. They’re learning that every 60 seconds, a child in Africa dies from malaria -- a disease spread by a single mosquito bite. CES attendees are then finding out the good news: in 60 seconds anyone can send an insecticide-treated bed net, or three, to prevent malaria and save lives.

In Geneva today, the World Health Organization released the 2011 World Malaria Report -- and there’s great news! This year's report has data from 99 countries, and shows that, working together with our partners, we’re saving lives from malaria.

Check out a few new stats from the 2011 World Malaria Report:

• We’ve hit an all-time low in deaths due to malaria! There were an estimated 655,000 malaria deaths in 2010.
• Malaria mortality rates have dropped by more than 25% globally and 33% in Africa since 2000.
• The number of bed nets delivered to malaria-endemic countries in sub-Saharan Africa increased from 88.5 million in 2009 to 145 million in 2010 -- contributing to a 5.3 percent drop in malaria deaths.
• Families are using the bed nets you're sending: An estimated 50 percent of households in sub-Saharan Africa now have at least one net, and 96 percent of people with access to a net use it.
• With these new estimates, we’ve pushed back the clock even further -- a child now dies every minute from malaria, instead of every 45 seconds. Incredible process in a short span of time, but one child every minute still means far too many children are dying from malaria.

Working for Nothing But Nets and the UN Foundation, I’m often asked how close we are to reaching the global goal of ending malaria deaths by 2015. Our team is asked questions like these a lot – on Facebook and Twitter and via email, phone calls, and letters – and we love it. Our supporters want to be as informed as possible in the fight against malaria, which is awesome!

To help answer questions like these, I’m so excited to share a (very cool) new infographic from our friends and longtime partners, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

Check out the map, the facts and figures, and learn about the work that still needs to be done to end malaria deaths by 2015. There’s a lot of useful information in there, and the bottom line is this:

We’re making progress in preventing and treating malaria, but together, we can do more.

Today is World Refugee Day – a day to honor the nearly 50 million displaced people around the world. We’re proud to support the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) – which works to provide refugee families with food, water, and shelter. And we’re proud of our supporters, who have helped us send more than 1 million nets over the last few years to protect refugees in Africa from malaria.

Working with UNHCR programs in over 15 countries like Liberia, Côte d’Ivoire,Tanzania, Sudan, Uganda, Kenya, and more, the nets you’ve sent have made a difference. The malaria rates in these camps were dramatically reduced. Earlier this year (thanks to your efforts and generous contributions), Nothing But Nets raised $350,000 to send nets, save lives, and ensure a healthier future for refugee families in Liberia in less than a month.

We're excited to announce the top four finalists in our contest to find our next Champion in the fight against malaria. Voting will open until May 31st – so make sure you cast your vote to help us choose the next Champion! We’ll announce the winner in Chicago alongside our partners at the WNBA Sky Season Opener on June 10.

And remember: it doesn’t matter who you are or where you’re from, anyone can be a Champion in the fight against malaria. All you’ve got to do is take action: whether it’s raising awareness about malaria prevention, volunteering on the ground, sending nets and saving lives, advocating for government funding for malaria programs, working in a lab — there are so many ways to be a Champion.

Keep up the great work!

When I was younger, my Mom looked out for me. Despite the fact that I wasn’t interested in wearing a helmet every time I rode my bike or that embarrassing fuzzy hat when it was cold outside, I know now that she was doing her best to protect me. Mothers around the world are doing the same – and you can help them protect their children from malaria by sending a net and saving a life.

When Nothing But Nets Champion Mandy Moore was in the Central African Republic last fall, she said something that stuck with me: “Mothers here are like mothers anywhere.” No matter where you live – in Louisiana or in Liberia – mothers are doing their best to keep their children healthy, happy, and safe. So this Mother’s Day, I’m showing my love and appreciation for my Mom – and moms at the Bahn Refugee Camp in Liberia – with a card, a phone call, and a gift that saves lives. What will you be giving?

Send a net. Save a life. Together we can cover a continent. And to all the moms out there – Happy Mother’s Day from Nothing But Nets!

Yesterday, the Roll Back Malaria partnership released a new report called “Business Investing in Malaria Control: Economic Returns and a Healthy Workforce for Africa.”

The report studied countries where companies have expanded their role in malaria prevention. Roll Back Malaria found that the private sector is a critical partner in the fight against malaria – and that preventing malaria benefits both the company and a community’s economy, because malaria is bad for business.

This World Malaria Day, we’re celebrating Champions in the fight against malaria! In Times Square, we’re showcasing Champions on the Toshiba big screen with this brand new video:

At the United Nations headquarters (and online here!), Nothing But Nets and the Roll Back Malaria partnership are highlighting some of the hundreds of thousands of Champions who are helping save lives by preventing malaria through a larger-than-life, interactive exhibit, featuring photos by world renowned artist Platon. The Champions to End Malaria Exhibit will be open to the public now through May 22^nd — If you’re in the area, be sure to stop by and check it out!

For World Malaria Day this year, we’re honoring Champions in the fight against malaria -- from students to CEOs to YOU.

Here at Nothing But Nets, we’ve seen that ANYONE can be a Champion in the fight against malaria. Over the years we’ve met so many of them, across the globe -- boy scouts, basketball players, CEOs, singers, actors, writers, government officials, faith leaders, fashion designers, soccer stars, community health workers, scientists, students, campers, artists…the list goes on and on!

Together with the Roll Back Malaria partnership and with generous support from the ExxonMobil Foundation, we're showcasing some of the hundreds of thousands of Champions who are helping save lives by preventing malaria through a larger-than-life, interactive photo exhibit at the United Nations, launching on April 25th and running through May 22nd.

Champions in the fight against malaria span the globe, so we’re bringing our photo exhibit to life on Champions.NothingButNets.net. We’ll be featuring 24 Champions to End Malaria online – and you can help us find our 25th!

Each day, hundreds of refugees are fleeing the crisis in Cote d’Ivoire — leaving behind their homes and many of their belongings and moving to refugee camps across the border in Liberia.

The BBC says: “What started as a trickle of around 300 refugees into Liberia at the beginning of the Ivorian political stalemate late last year, is turning into a huge refugee crisis, with plans afoot to build more camps in Liberian villages for the refugees. But support for the fleeing people is not yet adequate.”

As the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) works to provide families with food, water, and shelter, the UN Foundation’s Nothing But Nets campaign is stepping up to provide urgently needed bed nets to over 70,000 refugees. And we need your help.

We’re big basketball fans here at Nothing But Nets. Over the years, we’ve worked with some amazing fans and players of all levels, from elementary school players to the pros, and we know they’re passionate about nets!

So -- you’re a basketball fan and you’ve filled out your March Madness bracket. What’s next? You’ll watch your favorite teams play with fellow fans. Why not join the millions of fans who have joined the movement to end malaria with Nothing But Nets? Here are a couple ideas on how you can get involved:

• Host a basketball tournament to raise funds and awareness for malaria prevention
• Put on a shoot out (and see how many of your baskets are “Nothing But Nets”!)
• During your favorite team’s game, skip the half time show -- instead, talk to your friends and family about malaria, Nothing But Nets, and how easy it is to get involved!
• With your intramural or school team, start a NET-raiser team to raise funds and awareness together.

Send a net. Save a life. Together -- with basketball fans and players of all ages, from all over the world -- we can cover a continent!

Yesterday, on International Women's Day, long-time Nothing But Nets supporter Elisabeth Clymer joined our friends at Girl Up, another campaign of the UN Foundation, to celebrate the accomplishments of women at the White House with First Lady Michelle Obama. Elisabeth of Fairfax, VA has been sending nets and saving lives for years, helping to protect women and children from malaria.

We’re proud to have so many female Champions in the fight against malaria: from Mandy Moore (who wrote about us in The Huffington Post yesterday!) to girls like Katherine Commale and Elisabeth Clymer to many, many more women and girls out there. Here at Nothing But Nets, we know that healthy, empowered, educated women can change the world!

Over a year ago, Nothing But Nets supporters responded overwhelmingly to help the UN help Haiti recover after the devastating earthquake. Today, the UN Foundation and some very special guests, including UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and Grammy-award winning band Linkin Park, are hosting "Haiti Today, Haiti Tomorrow" a Facebook Town Hall. They'll be talking about the ongoing relief efforts and how you can continue to support the UN and its partners in helping Haiti rebuild and transform.

We'll be tuning in, and we hope you'll join us!

A few weeks ago, the media was abuzz with the news that George Clooney had contracted malaria while in Sudan. After he recovered, Clooney teamed up with The New York Times columnist Nick Kristof to take questions on malaria to raise awareness about this important issue.

Nothing But Nets put the call out, and many of you sent your questions in. Now -- check out their answers!

Here’s just one of the many questions asked:

Q: Jeremy Kareken
How helpful are those mosquito net programs?

A: George Clooney
They are extremely effective…they save countless lives.

A: Nick Kristof
Bed net programs seem very effective, especially when the nets are treated with insecticide. The problem tends to be getting the nets to rural areas, and then getting people to use them. The kind of mosquito that carries malaria is normally active only in the evening, when people are in bed, and that’s why the nets work so well.

Read more questions and answers here. And a big thank you to George Clooney and Nick Kristof for taking the time to call attention to malaria and the global movement to end malaria!

Each year, Bill Gates writes an Annual Letter on the issues he considers most important, both personally and for our partner, The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, with a particular focus on global health. His third Annual Letter was released this morning, and highlighted malaria and the progress being made globally to meet the goal of ending malaria deaths by 2015. He even mentioned the work of Nothing But Nets supporters and partners! Read the full letter here.

While traveling in Sudan earlier this month, actor George Clooney contracted malaria. He recovered quickly, thanks to access to medicine. Now, George -- and Nicholas Kristof of The New York Times -- are raising awareness about malaria by taking your questions!

Malaria is still so widespread and lethal partly because it never gets adequate attention -- so this seems a chance to try to remedy that. So with your help, we’re going to do both right now. Send in your questions for George and me about malaria, either about his case in particular or about the problem in general -- or about why it is that so many still die in places like Sudan of a disease that we know how to eradicate. Read the full article.

Here's your opportunity to ask a question about Nick and George's personal experiences with the disease and about malaria itself. You can also share what you already know about life-saving bed nets, and how they're one of the easiest and most cost-effective ways to prevent malaria. Maybe you'd also like to talk about your experiences with Nothing But Nets and how you've been helping raise awareness about the issue, how you're sending nets to save lives! You can submit your questions here.

We’re excited to share an update from the ground in the Central African Republic, with our partner PSI (Population Services International). Danwe N'Dikwe, a PSI program manager in Central and West Africa, talks about his personal experiences with malaria, the life-saving nets you’ve helped send to C.A.R., and the partnerships that will help us reach the global goal of ending malaria deaths by 2015.

We’re well on our way to delivering a net to every family in C.A.R., And together, with your support and through partnerships like this one with the UN Foundation’s Nothing But Nets, PSI, and the UN, we truly can cover a continent. Enjoy the video, and stay tuned for more updates from C.A.R.!