Last night, United Airlines launched its first flight to Africa, opening direct service from Washington DC to Accra, Ghana. To mark their maiden voyage, United used its plane to help deliver mosquito nets to families in rural Ghana and signaled their commitment to the global race to end malaria deaths.

Under the leadership of Dr. Constance Bart-Plange, Director of the National Malaria Control Program, Ghana is making tremendous progress in malaria control. With a focused effort on prevention, rapid diagnosis and treatment, the country is working to decrease the disease burden by 75% by the year 2015.

Malaria No More UK and NetsforLife® recently partnered in Ghana to distribute nearly one million nets to children and pregnant women in the Northern and Eastern regions of Ghana. Joining in this effort is long time partner of Malaria No More and leader in the fight against malaria in Africa, ExxonMobil, which provided the mosquito nets for the inaugural flight to Ghana.

Check out Malaria No More UK’s new video on their work with NetsforLife® in Ghana here.

American Idol finalist Elliott Yamin has been an amazing supporter and fan of MNM ever since learning about us at Idol Gives Back. Thank you Elliott!

Check out a short video of his recent trip to Angola with ExxonMobil and American Idol judge Kara DioGuardi. A similar story of the trip appeared on the hit show this past Wednesday.

Be sure to catch MMN on Idol Gives Back Wednesday, April 21st at 8/7c on FOX!

American Idol announced today that it will host the third-ever “Idol Gives Back” charity special on April 21, 2010 — and Malaria No More has been chosen as a beneficiary!!!

“Idol Gives Back” has raised millions of dollars to help fight malaria and shown millions of Idol fans across the country that every individual can be a hero in the fight against malaria.

Thanks to Idol and the generous sponsorship of ExxonMobil, we have distributed mosquito nets in Uganda, Zambia, Angola, Madagascar, Mali, Nigeria and the Democratic Republic of the Congo and strengthened our programs in Africa to save lives.

We have traveled to Africa with Idol alums Jordin Sparks and Melinda Doolittle and worked with Elliott Yamin and Brooke White to help raise awareness.

We’re looking forward to another great “Idol Gives Back” in 2010!

Saint Isabel Orphanage and School (OSCI) in Luanda, Angola was recently awarded a $100,000 grant from ExxonMobil to help improve their facilities to better fight malaria and protect the children that stay there.

In addition, and in conjunction with American Idol finalist Elliott Yamin’s performance at the 1st Annual Washington Ideas Forum today, the ExxonMobil grant will also cover the launch of an art-based malaria prevention education program at OSCI.

Elliot, a champion in the fight against malaria, said:
When I visited Angola as part of Idol Gives Back, I saw how devastating malaria is in Africa and that there are some basic actions we can take to save lives. Saint Isabel provides hope and new lives for the children of Luanda, and I am very honored to support its efforts.

ExxonMobil does a lot of amazing work in the malaria space and we’re proud to work closely with them to end malaria deaths in Africa. Thanks to their support through American Idol’s Idol Gives Back, we’ve been able to expand our programs in Africa by strengthening country capacity and improving the delivery and use of malaria interventions.

We’ll continue to track the progress being made at OCSI and you can too by visiting their site.

Malaria No More has learned that Carrie Underwood is going to appear on American Idol tonight to report back on some of the incredible work we’ve been able to do in Angola thanks to Idol Gives Back and millions of generous American Idol fans across the country!

Carrie traveled to Angola with American Idol corporate sponsor (and MNM partner!) ExxonMobil, the largest non-pharmaceutical corporate donor to the fight against malaria. Carrie is showing how Idol fans are helping families across Africa protect themselves with long-lasting insecticide-treated mosquito nets. The world is winning the battle to end malaria deaths—and Idol fans are a vital part of the team.

Thanks to Idol Gives Back funds, 287,000 bed nets were distributed by Malaria No More to protect children and pregnant mothers from malaria in 2008.

Check out videos from Exxon’s trip to Angola with Idol alums Elliott Yamin and Fantasia too!

Also, see what Malaria No More is up to with American Idols Jordin Sparks, Melinda Doolittle and Brooke White.

Elliott on the big screen at Nationals Stadium

Talk about putting your money where your mouth is!

The Exxon Mobil Corporation announced today that it is giving a $1 million grant to support the President’s Malaria Initiative in honor of World Malaria Day. The grant will support vital training for health-care workers in malaria prevention and treatment, with a focus on those most vulnerable to malaria—pregnant women and young children.

ExxonMobil is a vital partner in the fight against malaria. ExxonMobil Chairman and CEO Rex W. Tillerson is co-chair of the Malaria Capital Campaign, an initiative from Malaria No More and the Global Business Coalition to raise resources and leverage best business practices from the private sector. ExxonMobil shows how core competencies and expertise are used to tackle a deadly disease for maximum impact: saving lives.

ExxonMobil has created a special website for World Malaria Day, including video and podcasts of global experts talking about the role business can play in combating the disease. In addition, they are placing malaria awareness ads on television and radio to really help get the message out!

To top it off, Exxon helped American Idol alum Elliott Yamin raise awareness at the DC Nationals game on Tuesday night, highlighting his trip to Angola to raise funds for Malaria No More and get the crowd excited for World Malaria Day!

ExxonMobil’s Africa Health Initiative has committed a total of $55 million so far to programs to fight malaria.