I recently had a chance to catch-up with Gabrielle Fitzgerald of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, which supports the United Against Malaria (UAM) campaign. She graciously gave me the inside scoop on UAM and all that it’s been up to. Check it out!
How did you come up with the idea to pair soccer with fighting malaria?
We started thinking about it a couple of years ago. We realized that the 2010 World Cup was going to be in South Africa—and that malaria is a critical issue on the African continent. Then we noticed that lots of our partners already had strong relationships with soccer players and organizations. It seemed like a perfect fit.
And why is the 2010 World Cup so important?
It’s important for a couple of reasons. 2010 is the first time that the World Cup will be on African soil. It’s also a critical year for the development community. In 2010, we’ll be taking a close look at the Millennium Development Goals and how much progress has been made. There’s been lots of progress on malaria. There are more bed nets and better drugs available—both critical to the fight against malaria.
So we should expect to start seeing a lot of special UAM soccer balls around?
Absolutely. You can sign the virtual soccer ball on our website, or play the “World Cup Challenge: Kick Malaria” soccer game on Facebook. We’ve even engaged a young soccer star from Uganda, 12-year-old Charles Ssali, to carry a soccer ball as he travels the globe from Addis Ababa to New York City to Brussels. Next month he’ll travel to Cape Town for the World Cup draw and present a soccer ball to political and sports leaders.
An impressive roster of celebrities, politicians, soccer stars, organizations have lined up to help UAM.
We have such a wide range of champions—and they’re all really excited to be involved. Everyone from Major League Soccer Commissioner Don Garber, to the South African mobile phone company MTN, toShoprite, an African supermarket chain. US Men’s National Team captain Landon Donovan even did a PSA for us that just launched at our official kick-off in New York City. We’ve attracted lots of people.
What do you think people would be most surprised to learn about malaria?
The number of people who are impacted every year. Malaria kills a child in Africa every 30 seconds. It kills nearly one million people each year. But it’s very cheap to prevent it. You can buy a bed net for just $10. This is a disease that we can do something about. In Zambia, Rwanda, Ethiopia, we’re making real progress. A lot of progress has been made in the fight against malaria since I started working on this issue five years ago.
How did you first get interested in malaria?
I originally worked on HIV/AIDS. But when I came to the Gates Foundation, malaria was a big priority—and I learned that malaria was both preventable and treatable. It’s great to work on something that gives you such hope.
Is there something you’ve learned that’s really stuck with you?
I think what’s really sticking with me is how much energy so many of the African leaders have around the issue. There’s a real concerted effort to fight malaria, across a remarkable range of countries, organizations and individuals.
What are a few simple ways that people can get involved with UAM?
There are lots of options. Go to our website, make a contribution, encourage leaders to support the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria. Soccer really is a great metaphor for our campaign. This is a team sport. We’re all in this together. It’s time to pass the ball. It’s time to reach our goals.
This morning, I joined a 12-year-old Ugandan soccer star, a giant mosquito and the commissioner of Major League Soccer, among many others, for breakfast at the ESPN Zone in Times Square for the U.S. launch of the United Against Malaria campaign.
As covered before on the ONE Blog, United Against Malaria is an effort that aims to kick the world into high gear to beat malaria by leveraging soccer and the 2010 World Cup in South Africa. Like any good squad, United Against Malaria is fielding a versatile group of players, including soccer stars, government officials, celebrities, corporations and NGOs, including ONE.
Many people representing this diverse partnership were at today’s launch, but perhaps the biggest star was the smallest person in the room. Charles Ssali, a 12-year-old soccer player from Uganda, is the “global emissary” for United Against Malaria. Charles wears number five for his local youth team in Uganda and has played in tournaments as far away as Sweden and Denmark. Charles is also a malaria survivor and has seen the disease impact his community and friends firsthand. Ever since recovering from malaria at age four, Charles has slept under a bed net and told his friends to do the same. Now he’s taking the message that he tells his friends on the soccer fields of his native Uganda—that you can stop malaria with simple, effective solutions—all over the world with the United Against Malaria team.
In addition to today’s launch in New York City, Charles will be launching the effort in Brussels, Addis Ababa and Cape Town. When I talked to him after the event and told him that’s a lot of travel for a little guy, he flashed his big smile at me and said he’s really enjoying his first trip to New York City, he’s excited to travel to Brussels next, but he is most looking forward to Johannesburg, where he’ll see the World Cup.
Beyond Charles, other big names from the soccer world spoke this morning, including Major League Soccer Commissioner Don Garber and Fox Soccer Channel’s lead announcer Max Bretos. Both discussed how the sport, probably the most popular in the world, and its biggest moment, the World Cup, have the potential to tap into a huge audience. It’s an audience—sports fans, youth soccer players, soccer moms and dads—who may not yet fully know the malaria story, but who have the potential to be passionate, engaged advocates once they see malaria can be beat.
From the NGO world, ONE’s own U.S. Executive Director Sheila Nix and Malaria No More’s Chairman Peter Chernin discussed how United Against Malaria can mobilize this new audience into effective political advocacy. The ultimate aim is to catalyze the world to reach the international target of reducing malaria deaths to near zero by 2015. It’s a goal that is within reach. Sheila and Peter pointed out the tremendous gains that have been achieved in just the last few years thanks to African leadership supported by effective U.S. and international efforts like the President’s Malaria Initiative and the Global Fund. Malaria rates have been slashed in countries like Rwanda and Ethiopia. But if we want to finish the deal and finally end deaths from malaria, these programs will need continued support. Sheila and Peter said United Against Malaria can play a pivotal role by making the connection clear for the public about how contacting your member of Congress to support effective programs will result in lives saved.
Finally, two more critical leaders, Ray Chambers, the United Nations’ Special Envoy for Malaria, and Bishop Thomas Bickerton of the United Methodist Church talked about how all this progress is being forged on the ground level in Africa with proven tools like bed nets, malaria treatment and better public awareness. Both spoke eloquently on the power of individuals such as Charles to make a difference in this fight, including both advocates like ONE members in the United States and community leaders in Africa raising awareness of effective prevention measures.
And now with United Against Malaria officially kicked off in the United States, there is only one thing missing from the team: you. The good news is that there are no tryouts (especially for me and my rusty soccer skills). All you need is a belief that in the next five years, deaths from malaria must end, and a voice to recruit your friends and press your elected officials. Be sure to follow the rest of Charles’s journey and join the United Against Malaria team at www.unitedagainstmalaria.com.
Ready to help kick malaria out of Africa? Then make sure to check out United Against Malaria’s (UAM) new website.
Soccer stars, foundations, governments, and corporations are all joining forces ahead of the 2010 World Cup in South Africa to unite against malaria. And don’t forget the NGOs, too, including UAM’s founding partners ONE, PATH, Malaria No More, Roll Back Malaria, Comic Relief, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Population Services International and the United Nations Foundation, with support from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. By leveraging soccer—one of the most popular sports in the world—UAM aims to raise global awareness and renew worldwide commitment to ending malaria.
So what can you do to join in the cause? Visit the UAM website and sign the virtual soccer ball to show your support. Read all the latest news on the UAM blog (don’t miss the behind-the-scenes post with U.S. Soccer Men’s National Team Captain Landon Donovan), play the “World Cup Soccer Challenge: Kick Malaria” game on Facebook, even add a UAM twibbon (a colorful football) to the bottom of your twitter avatar. Check out their new site today!
On Tuesday night, ONE staff joined a gigantic malaria vector to enjoy a “mosquito mojito” and to support United Against Malaria in kicking malaria out of Africa.
United Against Malaria is a partnership of NGOs, footballers, governments, corporations, foundations, and individuals who are joining forces to fight malaria in the lead-up to the 2010 World Cup in South Africa. UAM’s goal is to build support for the 2010 target of universal access to mosquito nets and malaria medicine in Africa. Clyde Simms, a soccer player from DC United, was there to sign the United Against Malaria soccer ball to show his commitment and unite with individuals across the world who share the goal of reducing deaths from malaria to near zero by 2015. Participants could also donate $10 to distribute a life-saving bed net to someone who needs it.
ONE is very proud to be a founding partner of United Against Malaria. You can support United Against Malaria and its partners and sign the “virtual soccer ball” to unite against malaria at www.unitedagainstmalaria.org!
A new campaign to combat malaria is launching in the UK today – and ONE is part of it. United Against Malaria brings us together with Comic Relief and Malaria No More as well as a team of football stars, celebrities, foundations and corporations. The campaign is setting its sights on the FIFA World Cup next July and the goal is for everyone in Africa to have access to mosquito nets and malaria nets by 2010.
We’ve chosen today to start talking about the campaign as it’s the day that the England football team play Croatia in a World Cup qualifying match. There will be a more formal launch in November.
Gabrielle Fitzgerald of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation is on the ground in Uganda with Dr. Margaret Chan, Mr. Ray Chambers, and Dr. Tachi Yamada. She reports back on their fifth day:
Our last event of the trip was the kick-off of Uganda’s United Against Malaria campaign – a coalition of local business, football and non-governmental organizations who have come together to raise awareness about malaria.
Dr. Tachi Yamada of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation joined Minister of Health Stephen Mallinga and representatives from MTN and Uganda’s football community in launching the campaign.
Edgar Watson said, “Football is a game that is so dear to my heart. It therefore gives me so much joy to see that the United Against Malaria campaign is using the football platform to fight malaria. I pledge to hold the football torch, as we, the coaches and footballers in Uganda all rally behind United Against Malaria. I do this for the children and for the future.”
Uganda is United Against Malaria!
Gabrielle Fitzgerald, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation
Check out this blog post from our friends at Malaria No More
Recently, I traveled to Los Angeles for the first match of FC Barcelona’s summer tour, played against Major League Soccer’s LA Galaxy. Although the teams were competitors on the field (Barça won 2-1 after an intense match!) they came together to show their commitment to a common cause: the fight against malaria.
On Friday evening, the LA Galaxy and AEG hosted a dinner to welcome FC Barcelona to the States and highlighted soccer’s leadership in ending malaria deaths through the United Against Malaria campaign.
FC Barcelona and Major League Soccer have battled malaria off the field for a long time. Now, with the same “goal” of kicking malaria off the field for good, soccer teams and malaria organizations are teaming up for United Against Malaria, an initiative to shine a spotlight on the malaria crisis in Africa during the lead-up to the 2010 World Cup—the first World Cup on African soil.
At the event, United Against Malaria welcomed Tim Leiweke (President and CEO of AEG), Don Garber (Commissioner of Major League Soccer) and Joan Laporta (President of FC Barcelona) as United Against Malaria Champions. In addition, LA Galaxy superstar Landon Donovan, considered the best soccer player ever produced by the United States, announced that he will be a Captain, or leading spokesman of the United Against Malaria team. Tim and Don surprised everyone by announcing a $25,000 donation to the fight against malaria as a welcome gift to FC Barcelona.
During the match, a United Against Malaria video played for the crowd of 90,000 and FC Barcelona wore special United Against Malaria jerseys onto the field to help spread the word.
The soccer community is rallying to end malaria deaths—will you join the winning team?
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So what can you do to join in the cause? Visit the 
