British Prime Minister Brown Pledges $200 million for ITNs To Fight Malaria in Africa

British Prime Minister Gordon Brown on Tuesday in a taped appearance on the television show "American Idol" pledged 100 million pounds, or nearly $200 million, to purchase insecticide-treated nets to help fight malaria in Africa, the Sun reports.
Brown's appearance was on a special edition of the show titled "Idol Gives Back."

Brown said he plans to buy 20 million ITNs at a cost of 5 pounds, or about $10, each. "With 120 million more [ITNs] all families could sleep safe at night," Brown said. In addition to Britain's contribution, Brown said he will be "urging other world leaders to play their part."

Last year, "Idol Gives Back" raised about 35 million pounds, or about $69 million, for malaria efforts (Pascoe-Watson, Sun, 4/9).

Brown Opinion Piece
In a related opinion piece in the Sun, Brown writes, "Every child could be protected from the bite of the malaria-spreading mosquito" by sleeping under an ITN. He also highlights a report that found that the distribution of ITNs and the availability of artemisinin-based combination therapies reduced the number of child deaths from malaria by more than half in Ethiopia and by 66% in Rwanda.

Brown writes, "I'm challenging the rest of the world" to join in the effort to increase access to ITNs "so that every child and every family throughout the world can sleep safely" (Brown, Sun, 4/9).