Nets Go! Samsung Partners with UN Foundation to Fight Malaria

With programs like “Hope for Children” (aiding disadvantaged children around the world) Samsung is always trying to help those in need. (Learn more about Samsung’s social aid programs here.)

Nets Go! is a humanitarian fundraising project in South Korea, which has partnered Samsung Electronics with the United Nations (UN) Foundation.  The primary aim of Nets Go! is to raise funds to distribute bed nets in malaria stricken areas of Africa. The project also is raising awareness about the massive toll malaria is taking on African children.

Malaria’s Toll

Did you know that over 800,000 lives, mostly children, are lost to malaria every year? Every second there are 10 new cases of malaria, while every 45 seconds, an African child loses his or her life to malaria.  Malaria alone is the cause of one fifth of all child fatalities in Africa.

Why bed nets?

Currently there is no vaccine for malaria, and drug treatments are prohibitively expensive.  As malaria mosquitoes are nocturnal, the best possible prevention method available is the widespread use of insecticide treated bed nets, which can help prevent malaria for up to three years.  Such a simple solution to such a massive problem, and yet so many in Africa go without these nets.

Nets Go!

Nets Go! is a campaign, sponsored by Samsung, intended to help achieve one of the UN’s eight Millennium Development Goals as a sister program to Nothing But Nets.  Samsung, in cooperation with Naver (a major Korean search engine/web portal), has been able run a successful fundraising program through the website.  Every cent of the funds raised by Nets Go! is transferred to the UN Foundation.  The bed nets provided by Nets Go! are approved by the World Health Organization for safety, quality and effectiveness.  In areas with an ample supply of nets,  over 90% of potential malaria infections can be prevented.

How can I help?

In South Korea you can visit Nets Go!’s homepage to learn more and contribute, or in other locations you can visit the homepage of Nets Go!’s sister program, Nothing But Nets which has been in progress since 2006.  Just $10 (or ₩10,000) will purchase and deliver a net to a family in need.  Samsung is pleased to be a part of this tremendous effort to reduce and eliminate the spread of malaria, and your contribution can help.