Approximately half of the world’s population is at risk from malaria, according to the World Health Organization, but the vast majority of malaria cases and malaria-related deaths occur in sub-Saharan Africa. Among officially recorded cases from 2009, Uganda and Kenya had the highest numbers, but WHO estimates that more than 90% of the world’s malaria cases — an estimated 800,000 annually — are unreported. Malaria’s victims are also disproportionately children: the United Nations children’s fund (Unicef) estimates that 85 percent of those who die from malaria are children under 5 years of age.
Today, The United Nations Foundation‘s Nothing But Nets campaign is marking World Malaria Day with a series of activities in New York to highlight a few of the thousands of Champions in the fight against malaria. Actress Mandy Moore and NBA Legend Dikembe Mutombo will join fellow Champions to kick off the day by launching a dynamic PSA to bring the issue of malaria to the famous Toshiba Vision screen in Times Square. The high-impact PSA features portraits from the Champions to End Malaria Exhibit, to open this evening during a reception with UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. The exhibit, hosted by the UN Foundation and the Roll Back Malaria Partnership, depicts the many, diverse individuals and partners who Champion the fight against malaria by raising funds and awareness to combat the disease. This larger-than-life, interactive exhibit launches tonight at the United Nations and honors Ted Turner, George Bush, Tony Blair, Awa Coll-Seck, grassroots supporters, and UN Special Envoy on Malaria, named among TIME’s 100 most influential, Ray Chambers, as captured by world-renowned photographer Platon.
According to Richard Cibulskis, co-ordinator of the WHO’s global malaria programme, over 90% of the world’s malaria cases are likely to go unreported. “One of the issues is that the data systems are weakest in the places where malaria is the most common,” says Cibulskis. “For some countries in Africa, we don’t have any good data at all.”
While only 117,704 malaria deaths were officially reported in government records for 2009, the WHO estimates that closer to 800,000 people died of the disease that year.
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