by Jake Morgan | Apr 15, 2010 | Opinion
In 2008, The World Health Organization (WHO) reported “half of the world’s population is at risk of malaria, and an estimated 243 million cases led to an estimated 863,000 deaths.” Hundreds of thousands of people died at the hands of a completely preventable disease! Shocking, isn’t it? The carrier you may ask? A simple, small, stealthy female anopheles mosquito. Recently, filmmaker Bobby Bailey, founder of Invisible Children, led a team to the African country of Uganda to learn the truth about malaria. Here in the U.S., we typically don’t give malaria a second thought, because our country eradicated this plague 50 years ago through the The National Malaria Eradication Program. However, when night falls over the continent of Africa, this nightmare lives on. Every night our brothers and sisters in Uganda fall asleep in fear that they may very well awaken as the newest victim of the malaria pandemic. During Bobby’s time in Africa, he used the art of film to create “When The Night Comes“, a documentary that exposes the alarming reality of malaria while offering a solution to the world’s greatest killer. In comes The Brave. This trendy, new grassroots organization founded by Bobby Bailey, “embodies an idea that transcends borders, allowing powerful individuals to step into the story and affect those in need.” The Brave has taken the lead, along with the United Nations Foundation and Nothing But Nets, to Unite Against Malaria. The goal – to let people around the world know that the threat of malaria is real, and that we can bring this beast to an end. Through the United Against Malaria campaign,...
