Ramatsiyi Moholoa
Ramatsiyi Moholoa
The government yesterday endorsed cellular phone giant MTN's efforts to fight malaria in Africa.
This was after the company announced it had started a campaign to help reduce malaria deaths as part of its 2010 Soccer World Cup sponsorship legacy projects.
MTN will also be working with the UN Foundation, Malaria No More, Rock Back Malaria Partnership, Johns Hopkins Centre for Communications and Path on the project.
According to research, malaria kills just over one million people in Africa yearly, the majority of whom are children.
Foreign Affairs Minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma said the government was pleased about MTN's decision.
Dlamini-Zuma, who is also a board member of the World Cup's local organising committee (LOC), said malaria was still a major killer on the continent.
LOC chairman Irvin Khoza said they were happy that MTN was involved in the fight against malaria as part of its World Cup sponsorship.
The malaria programmes will be rolled out in countries like Ghana, Uganda, Zambia, South Africa, Ivory Coast, Swaziland, Botswana, Liberia, Guinea, Nigeria, Rwanda and Guinea Bissau.