Champions Activate Their Communities for World Malaria Day 2024

This World Malaria Day, United to Beat Malaria (Beat Malaria) grassroots advocacy Champions rallied their communities in support of strong funding for global programs working to combat malaria. The United to Beat Malaria grassroots advocacy team is pleased to share these highlights from Champion activities for World Malaria Day: 

Phone Calls to Congress

• In total, Champions made 52 total phone calls to their members of Congress on World Malaria Day. This is an increase from 20 calls made for World Malaria Day last year!
• 14 additional calls were made earlier in April by students at the University of Florida, organized by Beat Malaria Advocacy Ambassador Yusra Ahmad of UFL’s Undergraduate Public Health Association
• 75 additional calls were made during an in-class phonebank at the University of Alabama earlier in the semester
• In total, 12 states were reached by Champion phone calls 

Social Media Actions

• Champions from 11 states sent 43 messages to Congress on X for World Malaria Day! 

Petition Signatures

• 82 Champions from 27 states signed our World Malaria Day petition! 
• This includes 29 signatures collected by students from the University of Alabama tabling on-campus! 

Op-Eds 

• Krutika Patel published an op-ed in NorthJersey.com describing how growing up in India with an awareness of malaria motivated her to advocate on Capitol Hill in support of programs working to combat the disease globally. 
• Favour Olushola, a student Champion from Tulane University for UNICEF published an LTE in her school paper sharing how her experiences growing up in Nigeria fuels her commitment to advocating for malaria elimination. Favour also participated in a virtual in-district meeting with her member of Congress earlier this school year and collected postcards on campus for World Malaria Day!

Postcards/Other On-Campus Actions 

• Students from Tulane University for UNICEF and the University of Alabama tabled on-campus throughout the semester to collect 140 postcards! 

• • This is in addition to the 75 postcards collected earlier in the semester at the Midwest Political Science Association conference in Chicago, IL
• Students organized a documentary screening of the PBS documentary “The Battle to Beat Malaria” at the University of Alabama featuring remarks from four College Ambassadors: Amy Fulton, Davida Padi, Miranda Endolo, and Alayna Dean!