Benni McCarthy Shows Support for Faiths Act Campaign

Blackburn Rovers and South Africa star striker, Benni McCarthy, has declared his support for the Faiths Act campaign. He urged Blackburn Rovers supporters and everyone else to fully support this important cause which can save lives that are being needlessly lost to malaria.

McCarthy is expected to feature for South Africa's national team as his country hosts the football World Cup in summer 2010. This will be the first time the competition is held in Africa, and is an overdue recognition of the great potentials the continent has to offer in its sporting and organisational capacities.

But the development and real potential of the African continent is still being held back, and one of the reasons is malaria. The disease not only kills almost a million people in the continent every year, but it also costs Africa approximately £8 billion in lost productivity every year.

When suffering from malaria, students are unable to go to school, teachers are unable to give classes and workers are unable to go to work to earn an income. What's more, family members of an ill student or worker often have to stay at home to care for them, losing out on their wages too.

The Faiths Act campaign is an opportunity to raise awareness among our local neighbours of this disease which is harming the development and lives of our global neighbours.

Benni McCarthy showed his support for the Faiths Act campaign, saying,

“I would appeal to everyone to help in any way they are able to back this life-saving campaign.”

People in some areas of South Africa, the country of McCarthy's birth, are still at great risk of malaria. But the majority of the country is now almost free of the disease. Efforts to control malaria in South Africa have, over time, contributed to the significant reduction in malaria cases. Simple measures such as the spraying of insecticide and the removal of stagnant waters which allow mosquitoes to breed have helped significantly, as has the distribution of bed nets to protect from mosquitoes.

The South African case illustrates how this preventable disease can and has been successfully controlled in the past. The aim is that similar measures can be taken across Africa to reduce and eventually eradicate completely the needless loss of life and the barriers to development caused by malaria.

Join Benni McCarthy in supporting our campaign by coming together with others in your local community to raise awareness and funds to tackle the disease. You can also take a leading role in shaping the campaign by joining the Campaign Leaders' Team. We can work together to help turn your ideas into reality and to make a difference to the lives of those suffering around the world.

Get in touch with us to find out more about what you can do to support this cause!

Karem