TONY BLAIR LAUNCHES FAITH FOUNDATION WITH MALARIA EFFORT

Former Prime Minister Pledges to Raise $10M for mosquito nets

New York, NEW YORK - Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair launched the Tony Blair Faith Foundation in New York today with an interfaith effort to combat malaria. In collaboration with Malaria No More, the Interfaith Youth Core, and Project Muso Ladamunen, the new Foundation will work to bridge religious differences by addressing the common goal of ending malaria deaths.

This inaugural interfaith initiative aims to raise funds for one million life-saving mosquito nets by September 25, 2008, the mid-way point to achieving the Millennium Development Goals set by the United Nations in 2000. Malaria kills over one million people of all different faiths and backgrounds every year—most of them children in Africa—but simple tools can help to save these lives.

"Malaria doesn't discriminate between religions, and so we must come together across faith lines to solve it," said Tony Blair. "No other humanitarian issue offers the same opportunity to address human death and suffering on a mass scale so quickly. It can unite people of different religions around a common goal: that of ending malaria deaths."

Religious groups across the globe are taking up the UN Secretary-General's recent call to end malaria deaths as soon as possible; Christian, Muslim and Jewish communities are working together to fight this global killer by raising funds among their own constituencies and uniting their efforts to provide mosquito nets that protect children and pregnant mothers from malaria.

Malaria No More traveled with an American Muslim delegation to Mali—a country that is 80% Muslim and 100% malaria-endemic—in December 2007 to distribute mosquito nets and discuss with local religious leaders how best to tackle malaria through congregations and interfaith networks.

"Faith groups can make major contributions to the fight against malaria; in fact, it's hard to imagine succeeding without them," said Saleemah Abdul-Ghafur who runs faith initiatives for Malaria No More. "Religious leaders in the developed world are able to raise awareness and money in their congregations, and churches and mosques in Africa offer an untapped resource for malaria control and health education."

Preventing the deaths of children from a preventable and treatable disease is a unifying goal that transcends religion and encourages people of all faiths to come together. Malaria No More embraces the challenge set forth by the Tony Blair Faith Foundation to work across religious divides to make malaria no more.

About Malaria No More

Malaria No More's mission is simple: to end deaths due to malaria. Malaria No More works to raise the profile of the disease among the public, policymakers, and businesses, while engaging the private sector to provide life-saving mosquito nets and other critical interventions to families in Africa. For more information please visit www.MalariaNoMore.org.