Footballers vs. Malaria

Twelve international footballers, including Chelsea striker Ivorian Didier Drogba and Marseille's Nigerian player Wilson Oruma, recorded a total of 18 PSAs in French and English and ethnic languages such as Ingala, Yoruba, and Fan. The announcements give the footballers' personal testimony about suffering from malaria and are interspersed with footage from professional football matches. The Footballer vs. Malaria public service clips are available free of charge for unlimited television and radio broadcast all over Africa. They last between 42 and 76 seconds, and each clip contains an 8-second space at the end for the addition of local messages about campaigns related to malaria prevention.

The Footballer vs. Malaria PSAs were previewed on October 26 2006 in Washington, DC, United States (USA) at an advocacy event organised for African ambassadors by the Roll Back Malaria Global Advocacy Taskforce and hosted by World Bank President Paul Wolfowitz. They were also screened at the United Nations (UN) General Assembly Hall during the Youth United Against Malaria concert on October 29 2006, which was headlined by Youssou N'Dour, Angélique Kidjo, Yvonne Chaka Chaka, Karina Pasian, and Cheb Khaled. The announcements were then showcased at the three-day United Nations Global Youth Leadership Summit in New York (USA), where over 400 young community activists gathered from October 29 to 31 to consider their contribution toward the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) by 2015. "Sport, music and the engagement of the youth are critical to creating cultural change and addressing serious issues like malaria in developing countries," said Djibril Diallo, Director of the UN's New York Office of Sport for Development and Peace (UNOSDP). "The Footballers vs. Malaria campaign is an excellent example of how sports stars can engage in this work."

Along with international broadcasts, DVD copies of the announcements for television and radio are being sent to National Malaria Control Programmes and National Broadcast Stations in each malaria-endemic country in Africa as well as to leading non-governmental organisations (NGOs) throughout the continent.

Health, Children, Women.

The PSA campaign aims to provide a tool for malaria control programmes. "The football stars are heroes not only in their own countries, but across Africa, where their international success makes them emblems of hope. Speaking in their own words, the footballers' authenticity hopes to bring to bear a powerful influence to provide protection for those most at risk of becoming malaria victims."