For the United Against Malaria campaign, the 2012 Africa Cup of Nations represents the greatest moment since the 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa, which provided a global platform for malaria awareness. Beginning January 21, the biannual tournament of Africa's greatest national football teams, hosted by Equatorial Guinea and Gabon, will draw millions of people; UAM partners hope to target these participants with strategic messages about malaria prevention and treatment, through the media and on-on-the-ground efforts. 

This year six of the participating 16 teams have committed to UAM in some fashion - Angola, Cote d'Ivoire, Ghana, Mali, Senegal and Zambia. New recruits to the UAM campaign are the host team - Equatorial Guinea and their star Rudolfo Bodipo, who appears on the cover of UAM's newspaper GOAL!, produced by Voices. 

Also joining the campaign is Marathon Oil Corporation, which has been active on the malaria front in Equatorial Guinea for years. The company will host a cocktail reception highlighting the work of the national malaria control program, print and erect two UAM billboards in the capital, and provide support for the printing of 100,000 copies of GOAL! in Spanish, French, and English. Likewise, UAM partners GBCHealth and the Corporate Alliance on Malaria in Africa (CAMA) will support UAM initiatives toward the finale in Gabon on Feb. 12.