In a few weeks, actress Nia Long and her son Massai Dorsey Jr. will travel to Tanzania to support the United Nations Foundation's Nothing But Nets campaign in its global fight against malaria.
They will visit one of the world’s largest refugee camps to see the impact of malaria firsthand, meet with refugee families, and distribute insecticide-treated mosquito nets that help keep families safe from the disease. They will also meet with officials from the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), to learn about the UN’s humanitarian work.
“Malaria is a truly devastating disease and one that has personally affected my family,” said Long. “When I learned that a child dies every two minutes from this disease, I had to find a way I could help. As a mother of two boys, I know that parenthood is a universal experience – no matter where we live, or who we are, we all want our children to be safe and healthy. I’m partnering with Nothing But Nets to ensure no mother or father has to worry about protecting their children from this deadly, yet preventable disease.”
Nothing But Nets is the world’s largest grassroots campaign working to protect vulnerable families from malaria. At this refugee camp, like many others, malaria is the single deadliest disease, affecting primarily pregnant women and children under the age of five. The campaign works to protect refugee families here and across Africa with comprehensive malaria intervention including bed nets, diagnostics, and treatment.
“Malaria strikes an astounding number of refugees, but we have the ability to prevent it,” said Margaret Reilly McDonnell, Director of Nothing But Nets. “A simple bed net can help protect mothers and children – and we’re so grateful to Nia for helping us raise awareness and inspire more people around the world to help us end this disease once and for all.”
Nothing But Nets has partnered with UNHCR since 2008 to provide vulnerable refugee families fleeing conflict or natural disasters with insecticide-treated mosquito nets that can keep them safe from malaria. The partnership has enabled UNHCR to provide almost 2 million bed nets to refugees living in camps across Africa.
Since 2006, Nothing But Nets has raised more than $60 million from hundreds of thousands of grassroots supporters, and delivered more than 10 million bed nets and other malaria prevention and treatment to families in 31 countries around the world. Anyone — from students to superstars to CEOs — can help protect families from malaria. To help Nia Long save lives, click here.
