2015
Why are young leaders important in the campaign to #DefeatMalaria?
Tremendous progress has been made against malaria in the last fifteen years. Since 2000, there has been a 58% drop in malaria mortality rates and 6.2 million lives have been saved.
As the world embarks on a new era of sustainable development under the Global Goals (Sustainable Development Goals), the global malaria community has articulated a vision for a malaria-free world, with the goal of reducing malaria mortality and morbidity by 90% and eliminating the disease in at least 35 countries by 2030.
Achieving these goals will require the youth of today to become the leaders of tomorrow.
Our gallery of young malara hero nominees features a graduate student from Kenya who is tackling malaria through research and advocacy. A doctoral student in the UK manages the largest parasite-related Facebook page, with nearly 26,000 members - infusing "going viral" with new meaning! Three teenagers in the USA - Kritika Singh, Alessandro Lauria and Naomi Kodama - are making momentous strides for malaria advocacy and awareness through self-led and UN-based initiatives.
From across the UK, Nigeria, USA, Italy, Kenya, and more, these young men and women are realising the goals of defeating malaria within their generation.
Nominees span young researchers, social media officers, community organizers, organization founders, radio talk show hosts, mobile app programmers, and comic book creators. With such an impressive and diverse group, it’s hard to pick just one as your malaria hero. So, go ahead and read the profiles, and endorse as many as you want!
Together – old and young – we can defeat malaria!
