Geneva, Switzerland, 10 June 2014<\/i><\/b>\u2013 Two days ahead of the FIFA World Cup in Brazil, football star and United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Goodwill Ambassador Didier Drogba launches an animated video that tells the story of his early life in a malaria-endemic country and calls attention to a disease that continues to take a child life every minute.<\/p>\n
While global malaria mortality rates have been slashed by more than 40% since the year 2000, the disease still claims more than half a million lives every year, mostly among pregnant women and young children, living in sub-Saharan Africa.<\/p>\n
Animated video calls for support to end one of the deadliest diseases on earth<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n
The video, co-signed by UNDP and the Roll Back Malaria Partnership, shows young Didier Drogba and his friends in Cote d\u2019Ivoire playing football outside their homes and fighting mosquitos that carry the malaria parasite.<\/p>\n
\u201cI have been a victim of malaria and have witnessed first-hand the devastating effects it has on individuals and families,\u201d said Drogba . “Luckily I was treated in time and that saved my life. Today we have effective and affordable tools to prevent, diagnose and treat malaria. But we have to work together to make sure everyone has access to them.\u201d<\/p>\n