ThinkSocial Awards: World Malaria Day “Twitter Challenge for Malaria No More” [Think Social]
We’ve been recognized for our collaborative social media work with Ashton Kutcher and Katalyst around World Malaria Day 2009. We look forward to hearing the final results on November 5^th.

Legends, Industry Leaders Praise Patron Highcroft’s Championship Success [PaddockTalk]
Scott Case was quoted in this online article saying: “Members of the Patrón Highcroft team were champions before they ever stepped on the track through their commitment to the Miles To End Malaria program.”

Must-Reads

A taste for bold ideas — chewing gum to detect malaria? [Seattle Times]
As part of its Grand Challenges Exploration program, The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation granted $100,000 to researchers hoping to use chewing gum and chocolate to fight malaria.

Players kick off World Cup anti-malaria fight [Reuters]
Footballers are teaming up with governments, companies and international health campaigners to push the “United Against Malaria” campaign, which will start next month and run until the end of the World Cup.

Zimbabwe: Aid groups worry about govt disarray [Associated Press]
Aid workers report the disarray of the government of Zimbabwe is putting its most vulnerable citizens at risk as hunger and disease threatens to sweep the country. Luckily, the U.N.’s Roll Back Malaria Partnership has been able to work with the new government to ensure insecticide was distributed before the rainy season.

What’s Happening This Week: A Festival of Lights; An Absinthe Tasting [Village Voice Fork in the Road Blog]
If you’re running the marathon this year, order the special prix-fixe “Marathon Meal” and $10 will go to Malaria No More. Executive Chef Olivier Muller is running the marathon to raise funds and awareness for Malaria No More.

Menu News from Beer Table, DB Bistro, Ed’s Lobster [Eater.com]
This Sunday, DB Bistro Moderne chef Olivier Muller is offering a 3 course lunch with wine pairings for $65 to benefit Malaria No More.

Marathon Menus: Carmellini’s All-You-Can-Eat Pasta and DB Bistro’s Ravioli Feast [NYMag’s Grub Street Blog]
DB Bistro’s Marathoner’s Menu, a $55 affair consists of dishes like avocado salad, whole-wheat chicken ravioli, and apple-and-raisin clafoutis.

Brabham launches 2010 Karting Challenge [Crash]
David Brabham, winner of the Le Mans 24 Hours and newly crowned champion of the 2009 American Le Mans Series, has been announced as a Special Ambassador for Malaria No More UK.

Student educates on Malaria [The Daily Illini]
Chris Duff, junior in LAS, was a finalist in the “World Briefing: Telling the Malaria Story” contest, co-sponsored by Malaria No More and Novartis.

Must-Reads

Extreme Genetic Variability In Malaria Parasite Found [ScienceDaily]
Researchers at the University of Maryland have catalogued the genetic difference among the mosquitoes responsible for spreading malaria. By mapping these differences, designers of vaccines can work to formulate an effective drug.

US boosts fight against malaria with Sh2 billion [The Standard]
In Kenya, news is breaking of USAID, President’s Malaria Initiative grants being made to fight malaria. The work of two different local NGOs will focus on the lives of 400,000 woman and children in an effort to get everyone under the age of five to sleep under a bed net.

Ugly Betty Teams with United Nations to Fight Malaria [The Seattle Times]
Malaria awareness makes it debut on the hit show “Ugly Betty” this season.  Airing on Oct. 16, the two-hour special will feature efforts by the main character, Betty Suarez, to draw attention to the “Nothing But Nets” campaign.

Idol Gives Back Returns! [American Idol]
American Idol announced this week that it will host the third-ever “Idol Gives Back” charity special on April 21, 2010. Confirmed beneficiaries include Children’s Health Fund, Feeding America, Malaria No More, Save the Children’s U.S. Programs and the United Nations Foundation. This news was picked up by all major media outlets, including CBS News, Huffington Post, Los Angeles Times, New York Times, MSNBC.com, US Weekly and USA Today.

DB Bistro’s Marathoner’s Menu [Food & Wine Blog]
Olivier Muller, the chef at Manhattan’s db Bistro Moderne is gearing up for the ING NYC Marathon on November 1^st with a special dinner menu for his fellow runners based on his own training diet. The price of each meal includes a $10 donation to Malaria No More.

How Hollywood finds its charitable causes [Times Online]
Meet the talent agencies who match influential charities with celebrities. It was CAA that arranged for FC Barcelona to team up with the Fox soccer channel and to back Malaria No More.

Anna Ackerman ‘12 Helping Create Buzz Around Malaria Awareness [Bowdoin News]
Anna Ackerman ‘12 was among ten finalists of The World Briefing: Telling the Malaria Story contest vying for the opportunity to learn and write about malaria in Africa — from Africa.

Must-Reads

Commentary: Where have all the malaria patients gone? [CNN.com]
Tachi Yamada, President of the Global Health Program at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, wrote about his most memorable image from a trip to Zanzibar: a pediatric hospital ward with a dozen beds and not a single patient in them. That is because Zanzibar has virtually eliminated malaria over the past five years.

Malaria in Africa: The net gains of keeping mosquitoes at bay [Telegraph UK]
The WHO has set a target to provide mosquito nets to all those at risk by 2010. But providing the nets is just half the battle. There is a real concern about what will happen after 2010.

Half the Sky: Q&A with Nicholas Kristof [The Seattle Times]
In a Q&A with Nicholas Kristof about his book “Half the Sky,” the editor asked Kristof if he thought too much money was going towards fighting malaria. He responded, “It’s hugely important to fight malaria, and I don’t think we should walk away from that.”

On the Move: Joe Lagani, Jeff Smith, Robert Blackman [AdAge.com]
Jeff Smith has joined Malaria No More as its chief marketing officer. He brings over 15 years of general management, marketing strategy and business development to his new role at the nonprofit organization.

Justin Guarini getting married this weekend, Melinda Doolittle at Road Atlanta this Saturday, radio airplay update [AJC.com]
Melinda Doolittle was at Road Atlanta this past Saturday to sing the national anthem and promote the “Miles To End Malaria” program, a partnership between Malaria No More and current ALMS leading team, Patrón Highcroft Racing.

Six good questions with Elle’s event coordinator Carlye Wund [San Diego News Network]
Carlye Wund is an event coordinator for The Good Squad’s partner Elle Communications, and volunteers with Kick 4 Hope. Kick 4 Hope benefits Grassroots Soccer, Charity Water, and Malaria No More.

Must-Reads

Malaria bed-net war [CNN Video]
Nigeria launches a large scale counter-attack against malaria. Thanks to huge investments by the World Bank, USAID and others, Nigeria is distributing 63 million mosquito nets in just 18 months.

U.N. Cites Global Rise in Detection and Treatment of AIDS [New York Times]
In the United Nations 2009 progress report on H.I.V. and AIDS it was noted that the number of people being tested for H.I.V. more than doubled in dozens of countries last year and the ranks of people taking antiretroviral drugs in the developing world rose by more than a million to surpass four million people globally.

ExxonMobil & American Idol Elliott Yamin Support Malaria Prevention at Angola Orphanage and School [Welt Online]
Exxon Mobil Corporation and American Idol finalist Elliott Yamin have teamed up to support new malaria prevention projects at the Saint Isabel Orphanage and School in Luanda, Angola.

Victoria Beckham, Stephen Webster and Malaria No More [Celebrity Baby Blog]
Victoria Beckham was recently spotted out-and-about wearing a “mosquito ring.” She explains, “malaria is such an important issue, killing more children under five in Africa than any other single disease,” Victoria went on to add, “I’m crossing my fingers this collaboration will generate loads of buzz.” From all the recent coverage, it looks like Victoria is getting her wish.

L.A. Council confirms Keisha Whitaker to children’s commission [Los Angeles Daily News]
Keisha Whitaker was appointed to the Commission for Children, Youth and their Families. Whitaker has traveled the world with her family to promote charities like Hope North, an orphanage in northern Uganda, and Malaria No More. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa appointed her to the unpaid volunteer position on Aug. 28.

Must-Reads

African leaders ally to eradicate deadly malaria [Associated Press]
African states launched a campaign on Wednesday to stop malaria from killing an estimated 1 million people on their continent each year. The objective of the 20-member African Leaders Malaria Alliance is to eradicate nearly all malaria deaths by the end of 2015.

A Tiny Tax Could Do a World of Good [New York Times]
Philippe Douste-Blazy, the French foreign minister from 2005 to 2007, and chairman of Unitaid published an Op-Ed story about how he thinks the G-20 nations could help both the poor and the global economy by fully financing lagging efforts to fight poverty and disease worldwide by imposing a very small tax on the prosperous foreign exchange industry.

Combo vaccine reduces risk of HIV infection, researchers say [CNN]
A vaccine to prevent HIV infection has shown modest results for the first time, raising hopes that a disease that kills millions every year may someday be beaten.

PHR’s Miles to End Malaria news [Motorsport.com]
Former American Idol star Melinda Doolittle recently announced that she will get behind Patron Highcroft Racing’s Miles to End Malaria campaign for Malaria No More. She plans to show her support at the Petit Le Mans race as a guest of the team and will sing the National Anthem before the race.

Students Camp Out on Arts Quad to Fight Malaria [The Cornell Daily Sun]
Cornell’s student group Cover Africa hosted its fourth annual 28-hour sleep-out on the Arts Quad to raise both funds for and awareness about the malaria epidemic in Africa. The article sites Malaria No More for several of the mentioned malaria statics.

Hershey Joins with Chief Marketing Officer Council in Launch of “Pause to Support a Cause” [REUTERS]
The Hershey Company joined the “Pause to Support a Cause” social responsibility campaign that launched on Monday. Organizations committed to the campaign include the American Red Cross, Malaria No More, Feed the Children and others.

Must-Reads

Net Campaign, Vaccine Trials Mark Malaria Progress [PBS.com]
A massive malaria eradication effort is underway in Tanzania, including a widespread campaign for distribution of insecticide-treated bed nets. Rear Admiral Tim Ziemer, who heads malaria programs for the Obama administration, spoke with NewsHour in Tanzania.

New Approach Could Stop 6 Mln African Malaria Cases [New York Times/REUTERS]
A recent study revealed that a third of malaria cases in African babies can be prevented by giving them regular doses of antimalarial drugs even before the children are infected.

Flooding Will Increase Malaria in West Africa [VOA News]
Flooding brought on by unusually heavy rains in West Africa increases the incidence of waterborne disease. Regional health officials are preparing for higher levels of malaria.

Media Spotlight

Bono and Ashley back malaria drive [The Press Association]
Bono and Ashley Judd have pledged their support for United Against Malaria. David Beckham’s football team LA Galaxy, Spanish club FC Barcelona and Microsoft tycoon Bill Gates’s wife Melinda are also backing the initiative, formed by charities Comic Relief, One and Malaria No More UK.

Slide Show: Dream big, ‘Idol’ singer tells Union students [Tulsa World]
Melinda Doolittle returned to Union Public Schools this week to share her dreams with other kids. She’s getting ready to tour; promoting her new album, “Coming Back to You”; and spreading the word about Malaria No More.

Must-Reads

New malaria ‘poses human threat’ [BBC]
An emerging new form of malaria poses a deadly threat to humans. It had been thought the parasite Plasmodium knowlesi infected only monkeys. But it has recently been found to be widespread in humans in Malaysia, and it can kill if not treated quickly.

Child Mortality Rate Declines Globally [New York Times]
According to new data that was released by UNICEF yesterday, the child mortality rate has declined by more than a quarter in the last two decades in large part because of the widening distribution of relatively inexpensive technologies, like anti-malaria mosquito nets.

Liquid condoms to flying syringes: Ideas to save lives [CNN]
The Gates Foundation has opened its latest round of grant applications for innovative heath research. From mosquitoes that act as flying syringes to ‘liquid’ condoms, the foundation is funding ideas that could lead to vital medical breakthroughs.

Taking Kicks Against Malaria [ONE.org]
A guest blog by MNM’s John Logsdon discusses the United Against Malaria Speed Shot Contest this weekend at the youth soccer tournament in Wilton, CT.  In attendance were Congressman Jim Himes, a member of the Congressional Malaria Caucus, and 1,000 cheering kids. 

P. Diddy and Ashton Kutcher To Host Party For Malaria No More [Look to the Stars]
Sean “P-Diddy” Combs announced that his legendary 4^th of July White Party is being co-hosted by Ashton Kutcher to highlight the work of “a very important organization,” Malaria No More. Sean John is also selling a t-shirt to benefit MNM at seanjohn.com.

Class Act: Alexis Patterson [Local News, Greater Binghamton NY]
This is an interview with super-star sophomore, Alexis, who has helped raise over $13,000 for Malaria no More through her Marathon team.  She’s a big Melinda Doolittle fan and learned about MNM through American Idol.

Must-Reads

Financing of global health: tracking development assistance for health from 1990 to 2007  [The Lancet]
A study published in The Lancet medical journal found that the institutional landscape of global health is shifting from being led by UN programs to NGOs and the Global Fund, among others.

Malaria, freak storms and great white sharks: what may lie ahead [Guardian, UK]
Scientists have produced a detailed map of how climate change is expected to affect every part of the UK over the next century, including the introduction of malaria into Britain by mid-century if mosquitoes flourish.

All Ugandans to get free mosquito nets [New Vision, Uganda]
The Ugandan health ministry aims to achieve universal distribution of bed nets, with a planned distribution of 17.4 million nets starting in September. Countries which have achieved this have lowered the prevalence of malaria to 1%, State Minister for Primary Health Care James Kakooza said.

What Twitter Can Do to Avoid the Next Swine-Flu Panic [AdAge.com]
In the second part of his two-part interview, MNM CEO Scott Case talks about how Twitter can help minimize panic about global health issues.

11-Year-Old Rewarded for Charity Work with 2 Tickets to American Idol Finale [Fox 8, North Carolina]
MNM’s “Save the World Summer” winner, Anna LaVenture, is featured on her local Fox affiliate for her great work—and her upcoming attendance at the American Idol finale!

The United Nations’ Retreat From Science in Controlling Malaria [The New Ledger]
Roger Bate from Africa Fighting malaria writes about DDT’s proven effectiveness, but its infrequent use to control malaria in Africa.

Aussies defeat England in Hollywood Ashes 2009 [DreamCricket.com]
A team comprising Australian celebrities beat their British counterparts in the Westfield Hollywood Ashes 2009 cricket clash in Van Nuys, California. Some of the proceeds will go to MNM.

20 of the Top Nonprofits to Follow on Twitter [Razoo.com]
Razoo.com names MNM as one of its top 20 choices, noting that our Twitter feed includes updates on their work in the field, plus progress that governmental groups and other charities are making.

Must reads:

Malaria Prevention Program in Nigeria Aims at Universal Bed Net Coverage [World Bank]
On May 8, Nigeria’s National Malaria Control Program (NMCP) and the Kano State Government launched the first wave of a national bed net distribution campaign designed to reduce by half the number of malaria deaths in the country over the next few years.

Study: Bacteria might stop malaria spread [United Press International]
U.S. scientists say they’ve found bacteria in the Anopheles gambiae mosquito that can stop the mosquito from being infected with the malaria parasite.

Global Warming May Exceed Infections as Health Threat [Bloomberg]
Rising temperatures will spread diseases like malaria and increase deaths from flooding, drought and more intense storms.