Malaria No More Fights Malaria With Comedy for Latest Project

Malaria is preventable and treatable; it was eradicated in the US six decades ago. Yet, in Africa, it still kills a child every minute – 40 percent of the continent's health resources go towards treating malaria, which costs $12 billion annually in lost productivity. Malaria No More, a non-profit organization based in New York, wants to end malaria deaths in Africa by 2015. Together with partner organizations UNICEF, the American Red Cross, the Global Business Coalition, and many others, Malaria No More is working towards its goal through initiatives such as distributing mosquito nets, educating African families and communities about malaria, and providing diagnostic tools and medicines.

Since its founding in December of 2006, Malaria No More has delivered 2.7 million mosquito nets to families in 13 African countries, enough to protect more than 5 million people. The organization also assisted in launching NightWatch, a nightly reminder campaign that promotes the use of mosquito nets. After a successful run in Senegal, NighWatch was introduced in Chad and Cameroon. Additionally, Malaria No More has collaborated with Presidents Youssou Ndour of Senegal and Jakaya Kikwete of Tanzania to roll out social mobilization campaigns in their countries.

Recently, Malaria No More teamed up with popular comedy website CollegeHumor to create Malarious, a collection of 24 funny one-minute videos featuring more than 30 celebrities and comedians. Malarious can be viewed on CollegeHumor for a minimum contribution of $1; proceeds will benefit Malaria No More. Stars who took part in the project include Ed Helms, Rainn Wilson, Gilbert Gottfried, Elizabeth Banks, and Rachael Harris.

“Our organization has played in the comedy space before, but never with the simple one-to-one ratio of Malarious,” says Malaria No More CEO Dr. David Bowen. “With ease and a little pocket change, viewers can watch their favorite celebrities and save a life in the matter of one minute. It doesn't get much better than that.”