The petition aims to get attention of world leaders ahead of funding decisions for Global Fund, to tackle malaria
In a new short film, that harnesses ground breaking Artificial Intelligence (AI) technology, David Beckham launches the world’s first voice petition to end malaria for the campaign Malaria Must Die, So Millions Can Live. Instead of collecting signatures, the campaign asks people around the world to use the power of their voice to demand action by visiting malariamustdie.com and recording the message ‘Malaria Must Die’.
In the short film, produced by Ridley Scott Associates, Beckham appears to speak nine languages, including Hindi as he invites people to add their voices to help end one of the world’s oldest and deadliest diseases. But the voices are not all his own. Instead, using emerging AI video synthesis technology, we hear Beckham speaking the voices of men and women from around the world, including malaria survivors and doctors fighting the disease.
Apart from Beckham, we hear the voices of eight others, including Subhranil Banerjee, Dr Elvis Eze, Marie Murorunkwere, Hussein Omar and Jean Bosco Niyonzima, who have survived malaria and are using their stories to help raise awareness about malaria’s devastating effects.
India is integral to winning the global fight against malaria. Since the turn of the millennium, India has made rapid strides against malaria. In 2015, India pledged to eliminate malaria by 2030. India recorded a remarkable 24 per cent decline in malaria cases between 2016 and 2017 and emerged as a global inspiration. However, malaria continues to pose tremendous health challenges for India. According to WHO’s World Malaria Report 2018, India still accounts for the world’s fourth highest malaria burden and it continues to be the deadliest of all mosquito-borne diseases afflicting Indians. This underscores the importance of ensuring gains against the disease are sustained and eliminating malaria in India by 2030 remains a priority for the government and donors.
The ‘Malaria Must Die’ campaign is designed to amplify the voices of those affected by malaria and gives everyone the opportunity to speak out. Each voice collected via the petition will contribute to a unique piece of audio art known as a sound sculpture, grabbing the attention of leaders in a unique and memorable way. It will be delivered to world leaders ahead of critical funding decisions for the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria in six months’ time. Since 2005, the Global Fund has invested around $200 million in India’s fight against malaria. Global Fund’s support to India has
enabled life-saving interventions that have helped protect those most vulnerable, including millions of children and pregnant women for instance, 11 million bed-nets were distributed in 2017 with Global Fund’s support in Odisha, India’s most malaria affected state, helping it achieve an 80 per cent reduction in cases in less than one year.
David Beckham is a founding member of Malaria No More UK Leadership Council and a committed champion in the fight against malaria with over a decade of support for Malaria No More UK. In his long-term role as a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador he has seen the impact of malaria on people’s lives in countries such as Sierra Leone.
Beckham said: “I have been working with Malaria No More UK for over 10 years and to be a part of this campaign and to help share some of the real stories behind malaria is really important to me. Dr Elvis Eze who was with us on set has suffered with malaria many times and as a doctor, he has seen how dangerous this disease can be. For me, it was so important to learn how he is using his experiences to raise awareness of malaria with young people in the UK and abroad. It’s unacceptable that malaria still kills a child every two minutes so please add your voice to the petition.”
Dr Winnie Mpanju-Shumbusho, Board Chairperson, RBM Partnership to End Malaria and Former Assistant Director General, World Health Organisation said: “2019 is a critical year for malaria. If we are going to win our fight against this devastating disease and save millions of lives, we must act now. This is a global fight. If we are going to be the generation that ends malaria we need to work together. World leaders are meeting this year to make important decisions around the Global Fund that will determine our ability to defeat malaria. I hope that people from every corner of the globe will lend their voice to this petition; together we will be impossible to ignore.”
The voice petition is the call to action for the next phase of the Malaria Must Die campaign, launched by Malaria No More UK in February 2018 in the run up to the London Malaria Summit, that was held during the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in April 2018. The Malaria Summit featured commitments worth over $4.1 billion to fight malaria and was followed by a historic CHOGM commitment to halve malaria across the Commonwealth by 2023.
However, progress is not inevitable. History has also proven that malaria will return with a vengeance if not sufficiently controlled. The decisions made now by political leaders – backed by strong public support – will determine this trajectory.