"Idol Gives Back," & You Can, Too
Did anyone else watch "American Idol" last night? I
definitely did - everyone's allowed a guilty pleasure or two! But last night I
got a non-musical surprise amidst the performances from "Idol's" top three
finalists - a plug to buy
insecticide-treated, anti-malarial bed nets for at-risk communities in
Africa. Sound familiar? It's very similar to Nothing But Nets, a project
the Reform Movement has been working on for more than year in partnership with
the United Nations Foundation.
Last night's "American Idol's" Idol Gives Back segment
featured former winner Carrie
Underwood traveling to Angola, where she helped distribute bed nets to
residents and refugees who are at risk for malaria, a disease we hardly think
twice about here in the U.S. But in parts of Africa, where malaria is rampant
and vaccinations aren't, this deadly disease infects more than 500 million
people every year, causing more than one million deaths and devastating the
society and economy of affected regions.
It doesn't have to be this way.
Stopping the spread of malaria is as simple as providing
African families with insecticide-treated bed nets, which drive away the mosquitoes
that cause the disease and have been shown to reduce malaria transmission by as
much as 90%. One bed net costs just $10
and can protect an entire family from the dangers of malaria.
It's encouraging to see celebrities as high-profile as Carrie Underwood
touting the use of bed nets on shows as highly watched as "American Idol," which
I can only hope will encourage viewers to chip in $10 of their own to stop the
scourge of malaria. And while we're on the subject, won't you consider buying one through Nothing But Nets?
It won't take much to put an end to malaria. It takes nothing but nets.