Andy Murray, David Beckham and Olympic heptathlon gold medallist Denise Lewis have been named as members of the Malaria No More UK (a not-for-profit organisation committed to ending suffering and death caused by malaria, a preventable disease) Leadership Council and have represented new charity Malaria No More UK during a visit to Downing Street. They will campaign to raise awareness about malaria. They start with the simple message that for just £5 a bed net can be bought, transported and delivered to an African family protecting a mother and child or brother and sister against malaria for up to five years.

Andy and David Beckham firstly took centre stage at Wembley Stadium yesterday, to mark the launch of Malaria No More UK. They drew attention to the importance of mosquito nets with the help of the largest tennis net in the world - all 68 metres of it - made out mosquito net fabric, and stretched across the Wembley pitch.

They were playing a mixture of football and tennis across the net highlighted the very simple point that whilst malaria threatens half of the world’s population, it's preventable and treatable: blanketing Africa with mosquito nets is one of the most simple and effective ways to help prevent the spread of malaria and yields life-saving results from a disease that kills one child every 30 seconds, and more children under five than any other disease.



Afterwards Andy told Becks: “I’m very surprised at your tennis skills.”

David said : “I’ve heard about your football skills. I’m still kind of surprised. Your free kicks were good.”

Later they joined Denise Lewis in Downing Street — where another bed net was draped over the iconic No10 door — and they met Prime Minister Gordon Brown.

Under Brown, the UK has so far brought almost 10 million of the life-saving nets to the continent, while 1.9 million more are currently on order.

Andy said: “It’s great that we’re here to help with the campaign and make a difference. The suffering and deaths it causes are so unnecessary especially because it is so cheap to make a difference – just £5 to protect a family for up to five years.”

“This is the first global charity I’ve been involved with in this capacity and it was an easy decision. Malaria is completely preventable and stoppable but yet it still kills more children in Africa than any other single disease. We can radically change this, it is a huge opportunity and I’m urging the UK public to help save a life and get behind Malaria No More UK, a truly world-changing and life-saving initiative.”

Beckham said: “By creating awareness we can really make a difference. Days like today are so important. It’s a real honour and a privilege for both Andy and me to get behind Malaria No More. When I went over to Sierra Leone as a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador, I saw the devastation that many diseases cause, but malaria is the biggest single killer for children under five. The statistics are really frightening.”

"For less than the cost of a football you can protect a family from dying. I urge the UK public to get behind the Malaria No More UK campaign to save a life and make malaria no more."

Denise Lewis, says, “As a mother of three, finding out that pregnant women are four times more likely to contract malaria than other adults, well that really hits home. Here in the UK, malaria is not something an expecting mother needs to worry about. It shouldn’t be in Africa either, especially since malaria is a preventable disease. It’s so easy for us to make a massive difference. Buying a £5 bed net will protect a mother and her child for up to five years. The time has come for us to work together to make malaria no more”.



(via malarianomore.org.uk, andymurray.com, photo/AP Photo, Getty Images, Reuters Pictures)

Andy Murray, David Beckham and Denise Lewis back new charity Malaria No More UK