What's the big deal about malaria?

Malaria is, simply put, Earth's largest killer ever.  Between one million and three million children worldwide die from malaria each year (more than aids and cancer combined) even though malaria is a completely preventable disease that is transmitted by mosquitoes. Malaria is also the worst killer of mothers on the planet.

 What do you hope to accomplish?

We feel that malaria is the worst positioned and marketed disease in world history. Over 95% of the people surveyed in the United States about malaria are unaware that millions of children are dying from malaria. There is no large-scale malaria lobby in Washington. There is no organized large-scale malaria PR effort. There are few relevant charitable efforts focused exclusively on malaria. Governmental spending on malaria control initiatives worldwide are inexcusably low (and difficult to audit). These problems are exacerbated by the fact that malaria is normally subsumed under the overall banner of world poverty and aids. Malaria needs to stand out on its own. We believe that only by making malaria an independent cause can it be eradicated.

 How are you going about it?

We will be setting up dunk contests, three point shooting contests and foul shooting contests.  We want to bring malaria to the forefront of public debate in the US and around the world.  Most people don't understand that malaria is still a threat and that people, children, are dying at an unacceptable rate.  By getting the word out about malaria, we hope to start a debate and mobilize the world to take action.

How can I get involved?

Organize an event to raise money for or awareness of malaria.  Get people together to shoot a basketball shot for malaria, or join a group near you.  We'll soon have a list of participating groups to make locating others interested in Malaria Action Day easy.  Until then, make sure you spread the word by letting people know about MAD.

We'll be sending out updates as we get closer to March, so please register for an account on the site.  If you are interested in hosting or organizing one of these contests on March 19 please contact us or sign up for one of the mailing lists on the Get Involved page.