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Mobile technology to help fund anti-Malaria campaign

Malaria Mobile A global campaign to end child deaths from Malaria has been launched. The ‘Power of One’ campaign is rallying people from around the world to unite and contribute towards the treatment of malaria. Mobile and online platforms have been set up by the Malaria No More organization in partnership with Novartis. Power of One enables the public to fund malaria tests and treatments for children in Africa.

By harnessing social, mobile money, and e-commerce technologies, Power of One enables the public to purchase a treatment and track the journey of a treatment. Donors will be able to see the effect of their donation on the ground, share information with their networks and recruit other donors.

“It’s unacceptable that a child dies every minute for lack of a dollar’s worth of treatment,” said Martin Edlund, CEO, Malaria No More. “We’re urging the world to join the Power of One campaign and to donate and engage their friends in this fight.”

Malaria is a preventable and treatable disease, but it still kills a child every minute. It is estimated that 436 million additional treatments will be needed to treat malaria patients across Africa between now and the end of 2015.

The Power of One campaign aims to address this treatment gap through direct donations and existing government commitments. Every dollar donated to the campaign will buy and deliver a treatment to a child diagnosed with malaria.

“I am proud of the significant and longstanding commitment Novartis has to the fight against malaria. For all our progress though, there’s still more work to do” said Joseph Jimenez, CEO of Novartis. “We need more help to close the treatment gap and Power of One offers everyone a chance to engage and make a difference for children suffering from malaria.”

In addition to Novartis, more partners have joined the cause including Alere Inc., which will provide malaria rapid diagnostic tests, 21st Century Fox, AHAlife.com, Causes.com, Time Warner, Twitter, Venmo and others. Zambia will be the first country to receive deliveries of treatments and tests as a result of the Power of One campaign.

Kenya’s own effort to crowd-source funds for causes through the popular mobile money has proved successful. The on-going Westgate fund has collected Sh55 million in less than three days after the mall siege.

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