Champions
United Against Malaria champions use their influence, creativity, and resources to help prevent and treat malaria in endemic countries. They may buy life-saving insecticide-treated nets for employees and communities, or educate vulnerable populations, or raise the visibility of malaria to other influential decision-makers and call them to action. Their methods may be conventional or innovative, but all of them work tirelessly to achieve the vision of a malaria-free future.
- Blog post April 19, 2012
Ghana Football Association: Kwesi Nyantakyi
Ghana Football Association (GFA) president and Confederation of African Football (CAF) executive committee member Kwesi Nyantakyi has championed the United Against Malaria (UAM) campaign since its inception in 2009, bringing visibility to a deadly disease that is responsible for 22 percent of deaths in children under the age of five in Ghana. During the qualifying games of the 2010 FIFA World Cup, the Ghana Black Stars, played Mali in a match dedicated to the fight against malaria, with oversized mosquito nets hanging in the stadium and UAM messaging on the field. They also recorded public service announcements, which have been aired across national television networks in Ghana around the World Cup.
A banker, lawyer, and football administrator, Nyantakyi has spoken out on behalf of UAM at football events throughout the African continent. In March 2011, he became the first recipient of the UAM "Golden Boot" award for his leadership in the fight against malaria. “Malaria still kills many children in Africa, and it’s important that we educate fans on how to protect themselves and their families,” he says. “Until we have no children dying from malaria in Africa, we need to spread the word about ways to prevent and treat this disease.”
Related Countries: - Blog post April 19, 2012
Nando's: Robert Brozin
Robert Brozin, CEO and Founder of Nando’s Chickenland, was born in Middelburg, about 200 kilometers from Johannesburg, South Africa. After a two-year army stint, a bachelor’s degree at University, and working two years at Price Waterhouse, he moved to Teltron, a Johannesburg-based electronics company. Whilst at Teltron, Brozin was introduced to Chickenland and envisioned building a global brand. Today that dream is a major success story. Brozin bought Chickenland with good friend Fernando Duarte, changed it into Nando’s, and today Nando’s is represented in 30 countries around the globe with almost 900 restaurants.
“As a company born and bred in Africa, Nando’s believes strongly in supporting programmes that make a real difference to the people of the continent that we call home," Brozin says. "The time to act is now, and it’s incumbent on Africans to be part of eradicating malaria from our magnificent continent.”
Since joining the United Against Malaria campaign in 2009, Nando's has led a UAM bracelet campaign that has raised hundred of thousands of dollars for the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria. It has also partnered with explorer Kingsley Holgate to deliver life-saving mosquito nets to vulnerable communities throughout sub-Saharan Africa. And it has educated employees and customers throughout the world. On World Malaria Day 2012, the company will deliver insecticide-treated bednets to farmers in Mozambique, where its peri peri chili peppers are grown.
- Blog post April 18, 2012
Said Salim Bakhresa & Co. Ltd: Said Muhammad Said Abeid
Mr. Said Muhammad Said Abeid is the general manager of Said Salim Bakhresa & Co. Ltd., an East African mill in Tanzania that processes wheat, maize and rice. As one of the largest food producers in the county—with 6,000 workers—management grew concerned when a company study on absenteeism listed malaria as a cause. Under the leadership of Mr. Said Muhammad Said Abeid, SSB launched a malaria treatment and prevention program to educate workers and make rapid diagnostic tests and medicine more readily available. It also employed effective messaging to help change behaviors and reduce reluctance to using the tests and insecticide-treated nets. The results have been encouraging: Data show that worker infection rates at the company have decreased to 4%, and productivity is up. It is now looking toward implementing the program at other mill locations.
Finding the right message with the right treatment is the key, says Mr. Said. That’s why SSB joined forces with United Against Malaria. “There is strength is unity,” he adds. “The best way to fight malaria is to join forces with people working toward the same goals.” - Blog post February 10, 2012
Goodwill Ambassador: Yvonne Chaka Chaka
South African singer-songwriter Yvonne Chaka Chaka brings more than 25 years of experience as a respected celebrity, humanitarian and political commentator to the fight against malaria. An advocate for maternal and child health, a Goodwill Ambassador for the Roll Back Malaria Partnership, and a champion of the United Against Malaria campaign, Ms. Chaka Chaka has worked tirelessly with Voices to engage audiences and dignitaries in Africa, North America, and Europe.
In her role as Goodwill Ambassador and UAM champion, Ms. Chaka Chaka brings the voices of the world's most vulnerable to global events such as World Economic Forums, African Union Summits, and the White House Summit on Malaria. In January 2012, Ms. Chaka Chaka was celebrated as the first African woman to receive the World Economic Forum's Crystal Award, an award given to successful artists who have used their art to "improve the state of the world," according to the Forum.
Ms. Chaka Chaka was the first black child to appear on South African television in 1981. Since then, she became a celebrity (her song Umqomboth was featured in the film Hotel Rwanda), and has performed for dignitaries such as Queen Elizabeth, Bill Clinton, Nelson Mandela, and Thabo Mbeki, among other notables. Her new documentary film, A Motherland Tour: A Journey of African Women, chronicles her own role in the fight against malaria, HIV/AIDS, and poverty. - Blog post February 2, 2012
CEO of Librairie de France Groupe: Rene Yedieti
Mr. Rene Yedieti, the CEO of the Librairie de France Groupe in Cote d’Ivoire, has been instrumental in recruiting public and private sector partners to the UAM campaign and to malaria control. For his efforts, he was awarded in November 2011 with the United Against Malaria Golden Boot.
Not only have they implemented educational activities for employees and customers through their "UAM days," they have included malaria educational materials and LLINS for displaced students. Together with their Foundation La Rentrée du Coeur, the LDF Groupe has provided school kits to more than 60,000 displaced children during the last two years, which include malaria education and impregnated mosquito nets.
“The UAM campaign comes at a time in Cote d’Ivoire when the private sector needs to take responsibility for making the country strong again. I am happy to be a partner and to contribute to the malaria control targets in my country.”Related Countries:
