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Football is the most popular sport in the world. Through the medium of football, Africa shall become the focus of world attention during the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa from 11th June to 11th July, 2010. For about a year now, football has offered itself as a credible platform and veritable vehicle in the worldwide United Against Malaria campaign. The United Against Malaria (UAM) Campaign is a partnership of football teams, heroes, celebrities and health advocacy organizations, Governments, Corporate bodies and individuals who have united ahead of the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa to win the fight against malaria. By partnering with football, the aim of the campaign is to create global awareness and review worldwide commitment to eliminating malaria through the use of prevention tools such as bed nets and malaria treatment in Africa. The ultimate goal is to galvanise global support to achieve the United Nations target of universal access to mosquito nets and malaria medicine in Africa by 2010; a crucial step towards reaching the international target of reducing deaths to zero by 2015. Malaria is the single largest killer of children under five in Africa. It kills a child every 30 seconds. 180 young Africans needlessly die within the time it takes to play a football match in 90 minutes. Every year, close to 10% of the world�s population is afflicted with malaria. It accounts for 40% of the public health budgets of endemic countries and costs Africa about USD12bn in GDP losses. The UAM campaign enjoys the huge support of the major stakeholders. These include the Roll Back Malaria Partnership, the Global Fund to Fight Aids, Tuberculosis and Malaria, Comic Relief, UNICEF, WHO, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Malaria No More, One, PATH, Population Services International, the United Nations Foundation, Governments in Africa, Football Associations and Corporate Institutions. The UAM has a formidable team in Ghana. It is made up of representatives from the Ministries of Health, Youth & Sports, Women & Children�s Affairs, Tourism and Local Government, National Sports Council, John Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, the Ghana Football Association and other corporate bodies. The Ghana team is under the captaincy of yours truly with able supportive roles played by other key players. The Ghana campaign is underpinned by disturbing statistics of malaria situation in the country. They include:- � Over 3.4 million people in Ghana suffer from malaria every year. The incidence of Malaria is an all year round affliction, hence Ghana being described as a malaria endemic country. � Currently about 4,000 deaths due to malaria are recorded yearly in Ghana, and 90% of annual childhood deaths are attributed to malaria. � A single bout of malaria costs a sum equivalent of over 10 working days. � Malaria is responsible for a �growth penalty� of up to 1.3% per year in Ghana. Against this background and the resolve to fight malaria, the Voices for a Malaria Free Future Ghana project in collaboration with the National Malaria Control Program and the GFA held its first stakeholders meeting in Accra on 2nd September, 2009. All stakeholders including the Ghana Football Association signed up to the campaign. Other African Football Associations have also been engaged in the campaign. These include Mali, Ethiopia, Uganda and others. On 15th November 2009, Ghana will host Mali in the final 2010 FIFIA World Cup qualifying match at the Baba Yara Stadium in Kumasi. The match will be used to demonstrate our firm commitment to the fight against malaria. Leaflets and flyers containing messages on the fight against malaria will be distributed at the stadium. There will be banners on the stands and mosquito nets hanged at strategic locations in the stadium. The Black Stars team will wear warm up T-Shirts branded with messages against malaria. The warm-up T-Shirts will be given out after the warm-up to spectators in the stands. The scoreboard will carry intermittent messages against malaria. The theme for our campaign is VICTORY IS IN THE NET. Every goal scored on Sunday and subsequently at the 2010 CAN and 2010 FIFA World Cub shall be celebrated as goals against malaria. The UAM is a social service obligation discharged by the Ghana team led by the Ghana Football Association. The Ghana Football Association is further supporting the campaign against malaria through the participation of the Black Stars team in the development of television documentaries and spots to be used in promoting public education on malaria prevention and treatment. These materials will showcase the issuance of strategic instructions in the dressing room on the fight against malaria by the Assistant Coach, Mr. Kwasi Appiah to the Players before a match against malaria. The Captain, Stephen Appiah, and his colleague Michael Essien will respond to the Coach�s instructions and pledge their support and the support of the whole team to kick malaria out of Ghana by 2015. The fight against malaria is a worthy national cause and the Ghana Football Association is proud to be associated with it. We have further pledged our support to the global fight against malaria. In this connection, Yours truly, as Captain of the UAM Ghana team was one of the guests at the recent UAM Africa Launch in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia on 9th November, 2009, courtesy the Johns Hopkins University Voices project. The occasion brought together representatives from the world of sports, politics, non-governmental organizations, global health and business executives. Key distinguished personalities included Her Excellency Madame Kagame, the First Lady of Rwanda, Dr. Awa Marie Coll-Seck, Executive Director, Roll Back Malaria Partnership, Dr. Michael Kazatchkine, Executive Director, the Global Fund to Fight Aids, Tuberculosis and Malaria, Nozipho and January-Barchill of MTN, Haile Gebrselassie, the renowned Ethiopian Olympic champion and Charles Ssali, the 12-year old goal-king from Uganda who represents young people in the fight against malaria. The key point from the Africa Launch was the declaration and commitment of all the stakeholders to the fight against malaria. The 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa will be an important springboard in the global effort at fighting malaria in Africa where most of the world�s malaria cases occurs. A reduction of malaria deaths to near zero is therefore the target football world cup fever must help to achieve. By the next FIFA World Cup in 2014 in Brazil, Africa should be coasting towards a 0% prevalence rate for malaria on the Continent. These targets are achievable due to the results from countries where strenuous efforts have been made in the past 2 years to combat the ailment. Statistics available indicate that some malaria endemic countries such as Rwanda, Zanzibar, Eritrea and Burundi have recorded declines in malaria cases and child mortality of up to 50% through the use of bed nets and other effective preventive and treatment measures. Parts of Ethiopia, Kenya, Mozambique, South Africa, Swaziland and Zambia have also recorded significant reductions in mortality through malaria. In Ethiopia, deaths through malaria have reduced by 50% in just 3 years through the distribution of nearly 20million insecticide-treated nets and widespread use of anti malaria drugs. If some African countries have been successful in the fight against malaria, Ghana can equally do so. Yes, I believe We Can. Whiles commending the efforts of the Ministry of Health, the National Malaria Control Program, WHO, UNICEF, USAID/PMI and the John Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and others there is still room for improvement. We need the united and concerted effort of all stakeholders, public and private sector, NGOs and especially the corporate sector to ensure we procure and use the needed treated nets and malaria medicine to win the fight against malaria. Malaria deserves a red card. Malaria kills. Let�s kick it.